Crossing the Atlantic
by Jewell Trim
Summary: Seven boys are on their way to America for different reasons. Chance brings them together, but will their friendship be strong enough to keep them together through their struggles to get to America.
1. Chapter 1

It was their third day out on the ocean. The weather had been fine with little to no storms. The passengers were able to enjoy themselves out on the deck and relax while the children ran about looking for entertainment. A couple of these children were young teenage boys sneaking around the ship's wheel.

Chris, fourteen, and his best friend Buck who was a year younger, were just about to try their hands at steering the ship were suddenly yelled at from below.

"Hey whatcha guys doin'?"

The voice wasn't of an adult but of a little boy about five years old. His voice however carried and was heard by the captain who had been speaking to one of the passengers.

"Hey! You boys step away from there this instant!"

The old man began to make his way over to the stairs, abandoning his conversation with the woman who was shadowed by a little boy.

Chris and Buck ran down the opposite staircase and went below deck to hide.

"Wild foolish children. They must've grown up with wolves with that kind of behavior." She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, but she knew she could at least rely on her little audience listener to give her an answer.

"Indeed, mother." came the southern drawl of the little boy whose accent matched his mother's.

"Certainly not worth talking to."

"I better not see you with such riff raff, Ezra. It would hurt your image."

The boy gave a satisfactory reply before his mother lost interest in him and went off to talk to another gentleman on the boat.

Ezra sighed and followed his mother. He glanced over his shoulder to where the other boys had disappeared. Growing up he never had friends since his mother and him traveled a lot.

She always told him that they weren't really necessary and would only be a hinderance.

The little boy who had called out to the older boys had went after them shortly after they had disappeared.

Ezra wondered where that kids parents were and why they weren't preventing him from interacting with the 'wild children'.

Chris and Buck ducked behind a few storage containers and held their breath. They had been breathing hard after running away and their hearts had not yet calmed down.

The two held their breath when they heard footsteps descending.

A moment later they heard a little voice.

"Guys?" It was the little boy again. Only this time his voice was shaky and uncertain.

Buck stepped out first.

"Aw it's just you. Hey kid, next time do us a favor and don't go tell'n on us before we even got a chance to do anythin'."

"Sorry."

The little boy remained on the steps. His feet at the edge where the light ended before entering the dark room.

Chris finally stepped out and walked across to where an oil lamp hung from the wall. He lit it and the room suddenly came to life.

They each got a good look of the other now.

The little boy who finally introduced himself as JD was short and well dressed. The only thing that looked off was his long black hair that was almost covering his eyes.

In turn JD noticed how the older boys were wearing old t shirts and pants which were rolled up to their knees. Chris however was dressed in all black unlike his friend who wore brighter colors. Buck was friendly and began talking to the younger boy. Chris didn't say much and eventually slipped out of the room to let the others have space and for him to have some of his own.

Back on deck, Chris walked to the side railing and looked out towards the ocean. There was nothing in site which was nothing new.

The hair on the back of his neck rose as he felt another person's presence.

A pair of small hands appeared, resting on the railing.

Chris turned and saw a lanky boy who was maybe five inches shorter than himself with long brown hair even longer than JD's, standing next to him. The boy was looking up at him and Chris was never one to be the first to look away at any staring contest.

He did break the silence first.

"What?"

"You're pretty tall."

"Thanks."

"Name's Vin."

Chris smiled, "Chris."

"I know. I've seen ya around."

"You have?"

"Yeah. I watched ya try and sneak up there and turn the steering wheel. I also saw ya sneak food from the food supply."

"I don't ever recall seeing you around here before."

"I usually don't leave my bed."

"And where's that?"

The little boy point up skywards to the crow's nest. Chris followed his finger.

"You sleep up there?"

Vin nodded.

"Heavensakes why?"

"I like look'n at the stars."

"Don't it get cold up there?"

"It's summer. Whatcha talkin' about cold."

"You know what I mean. When the weather turns sour and it rains. You ain't up there then are you?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I ain't really supposed to be on the ship."

"You're a stowaway?"

Vin nodded and looked warily around to see if anyone was looking.

"But someones got to notice you around."

"Not really. I'm pretty good at hiding."

Chris frowned, "Well have you eaten today?"

"Naw, I usually wait until night to sneak down and find something. That's how I saw ya in the first place."

Thinking for a minute, Chris came up with an idea, "How about you stay with me and Buck in our room. It ain't much, but it will keep you out of the rain and we can get you something to eat."

Vin gave a huge grin before nodding.

"Alright, why don't you follow me on down to our base."

Leading the way, Chris took him back down stairs and to a room that was located down the small hallway.

Buck was already inside with JD. They were seated on one bed and Buck was reading something out loud to him.

When the door open both eyes looked up.

"Hey old dog, who's this?"

"This is Vin."

Vin gave a small wave before taking great interest in the floor.

JD, excited to see another boy who looked around his age, welcomed him enthusiastically.

"Hi I'm JD and I'm five. This is Buck and he is thirteen. How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Oh, wow I was way off. I thought you were like nine."

"Uh JD," interrupted Buck who was trying not to laugh, "eleven is only two years older than nine."

"Yeah but that's like nine years older than me."

Buck's struggle to keep from laughing failed.

"Try again kid, it's only six."

JD frowned at his new friend.

"Well I only got that wrong now, but when I go to school I'm going to be able to count to a hundred and then we'll see whose laughing."

The other boys were now trying to keep from letting their smiles show.

Chris started again.

"Is it ok Buck if Vin stays with us down here?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Can I too!" JD asked, bouncing up and down on the bed.

"Shouldn't you be with your parents, kid?"

"I'm traveling with a adoption ancient, or whatever they're called. I'm on my way to meet my new family."

Buck was about to correct the boys mistake, but Chris spoke up first.

"What happened to your parents?"

"My pa left me and my ma after she became sick. She died last year of cancer and I've been living with my aunt. She's real old so she sent me to go and live with a younger family who wants children."

JD tried to keep from letting it show, but he started to sniffle and then the tears began to fall.

Buck was quick to try and comfort the little boy.

"I bet the family you're going to is gonna be nice and will play lots of games with you. I'm sure you'll love it and I know they'll love you."

"Yeah but my aunt didn't love me enough to keep me. What's keeping these people from doing the same?"

The other boys didn't know how to answer the question so they decided on distracting the five year old.

"Hey JD, want to look at my collection that I started last year?"

"What is it?" asked JD, wiping his face.

"It's a collection of-"

"Don't show him that, Bucklin! What's wrong with you?"

"Aw Chris, it ain't gonna hurt him."

"What is it?" asked Vin, speaking up for the first time.

"It's my collection of magazines with pictures of real pretty ladies."

"Can I see?"

"No." said Chris and the younger boys sank in disappointment, but didn't argue.

"Maybe we should play a game instead." offered Buck.

"Like what? It's getting late."

"Maybe we can sneak down and get some snacks and sneak on the upper deck where the first class passengers are."

"Who'd want to see them?" scoffed Chris, but he noticed how the other boys had perked up at the idea and Vin was hungry from not eating yet so he caved. "Alright we can go. So long as you all keep quiet when we do this. If we get caught then we won't be able to do this again."

Vin nodded and JD gave a big salute with the wrong hand.

With a sigh and nod himself, he stood.

"Alright then. It should be dark enough so no one can see us, but just in case we'll wait a few more minutes."

"Can't we just go now. It ain't like there's much light in the corridor anyways."

"We can turn off the oil lamps so we can't be seen as we go." suggested Buck.

"Yeah like that won't be suspicious at all."

Their arguing back and forth passed the time Chris thought was sufficient enough before they could go out.

Opening their little door they discovered that the hall was empty with a few oil lamps lighting the way.

"Remember to follow me. The ship tends to creak and we don't want our shadows to be cast under people's doors." Chris said in a low whisper.

Slipping out the door way, Chris attached himself to the wall hidden in the shadows. His black clothes helped him to disappear until he was nothing but a pair of steel blue eyes.

"Hurry." he whispered back.

Vin was next. He too slipped into the dark and was as silent as a cat. Buck came after, followed by JD who did his best to imitate the others.

They would occasionally hear the sounds of people talking in their rooms and the boys would have to wait before daring to move on again.

The food storage was at the end of the hallway and was securely locked after the boys first time invading it.

"What do we do?" asked JD in a whisper that was still too loud.

"Does anyone know how to pick a lock?"

"I do." came a new voice.

The boys all turned around and were surprised to see another boy standing behind him. He was well dressed like JD, but even more so with his red coat jacket and black tie.

"Who are you?"

"That's not really important in achieving your meager goal now is it."

"Maybe we should just head back." Chris whispered. He didn't completely trust the new boy. He looked like another one of those boys who were rich and just liked to cause trouble and then later blame the others so as not to get into trouble.

Well Chris didn't want any trouble. Especially if it put any attention on Vin who was not supposed to be on the ship.

"Gentlemen, I assure you that none of your little escapades will be told by me to an adult figure."

"Thanks but no thanks. Your word don't mean nothing to me."

"I could've done that already couldn't I?"

"Yeah, but since we haven't done anything yet you don't have anything on us, but if we do let you help and we steal food then you will have proof."

"True. You are a lot smarter than you look."

Chris stepped up to the little boy and glared down at him. "Want to try and say that again?"

The boy however didn't back away, but stood his ground.

"I'm pretty bored and peckish myself. I promise on my sainted mother's grave that I won't breathe a word about this."

"Figure you're dead meat if you're lying." Chris said and walked back to the locked door.

"I love your sense of humor." the boy said in a low whisper as he knelt to the floor and dug into his pocket and fished out something from inside.

A second or two later he stood and opened the door with a triumphant smile and ushered them in. Chris was last as he glared at the boy. The boy didn't seem phased by it and walked in himself, but was pulled back by Chris who yanked the small piece of metal from his hand.

Chris held it up in front of the boy. It was a key.

"You asked me if I knew how to pick a lock. You didn't ask what my methods were."

"How did you get this?"

"I have many skills which I'm not willing to disclose at the present."

The boy snatched the key back and placed it back into his pocket.

The other boys were filling their pockets with small pieces of food that weren't perishable. Chris kept watch at the door for any signs of others.

After seven minutes, Chris told them that they were leaving.

Everyone had everything they could carry. Vin with four sandwiches and a pocket full of candy, JD with one sandwich, Buck with a cold chicken leg, and the little boy with a piece of cheese.

"Is that all you came down here to get?" asked JD in surprise.

Buck shushed the five year old, but it was too late.

Footsteps were heard approaching the room.

"Everyone hide." hissed Chris as they all dove behind something.

"What if they lock us inside?" asked JD.

They were all thinking the same thing which would be really bad.

The door swung open and two pairs of footsteps were heard entering the small room. A light was swung back and forth to look over the area.

"You know I see you." came an older boys deep voice.

No one moved.

"Why don't ya come on out. We ain't gonna turn ya in if ya do." came another boys voice.

JD stood up.

"JD!" hissed Buck.

"What? He said he ain't gonna tell if we come on out."

The other boys stood up from their hiding places. All shooting glares at the five year old.

"Well what do we have here?" It was the boy who had spoken up first. He was taller than the other boys and older.

The other boy was african american, skinny like Vin and was about the same height as Chris.

"Hi I'm JD and I'm five years old. What about you?"

"I'm Josiah and I'm sixteen. This is Nathan and he's thirteen."

"Wow, you're the same age as Buck, Nathan, and Josiah, you're older than Chris."

"Okay," interrupted Buck, "now that we know that. Perhaps we should get out of here."

"We can go back to the base." JD suggested enthusiastically.

"Does your little friend ever shut up?" whispered Chris to his old friend.

Buck just laughed and ignored him, "That's a good idea, JD."

The boys filed out of the room and walked quietly down the corridor and into Chris and Buck's small room.

Buck took up a position on his bed with JD. Vin sat with the well dressed boy on the other while Chris stood off to the side. The new boys stood by the door.

"I guess introductions are in order." began the well dressed little boy.

"I'll start! My name is JD and I'm-"

"Five years old, we know." said the others in unison.

"I'm Buck Wilmington. Thirteen years old. The dark brooding guy over there is my old friend, Chris Larabee, fourteen. He doesn't say much."

Chris gave a nod to the other boys.

"Wait, are we saying last names? My last name is Dunne." interrupted JD.

"I'm Vin Tanner, eleven." Said Vin in a low voice, trying not to draw attention to himself.

"My name is Ezra P. Standish, twelve."

"What does the P stand for?" asked JD.

"That's not really relevant."

"Well I'm Josiah as I said before, sixteen years old."

"And I'm Nathan, thirteen."

After a few minutes of silence and looking at one another Buck finally said what they were all thinking, "So what now?"

"I guess we can't go through with the plan on going up to first class."

At this Ezra perked up, "What?"

"What I want to know is how you guys got inside the food storage in the first place?" Josiah said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ezra got us in." JD pointed out.

Josiah looked at Ezra who didn't break eye contact with the older boy.

"How?"

"How indeed." said the younger boy.

"He had a key." said Chris.

Ezra flashed a stink eye at Chris.

"Where did you get the key?"

"I lifted it when the captain was playing poker with my mother. He wasn't using it."

"How does your mother end up gambling with that black-hearted man?"

"He likes to entertain those who are in first class."

"You're in first class?" asked JD almost dumbfounded by the idea.

"That is what I was implying Mr Dunne."

"Then why are you down here with us?" asked Chris.

"Why did you call me Mister?" asked JD. The other boy ignored him.

"I was bored up there with nothing to do so I decided to look around and thought his keys would be of more use to me than him at the moment."

"So you decided to sneak into the food storage?"

"Well I wasn't really interested in the food storage, but I was when I overheard your plans."

"Not that this conversation ain't interesting, but does this mean we ain't goin' upstairs."

"Not tonight, Vin."

The younger boy laid down and curled himself up on the bed.

"In that case I'm going to go to sleep."

The others made room for him to stretch out.

"So are you going to tell on us that we were stealing food?"

"We said we weren't gonna say anything if you came out from hidin' and you did. So we won't."

"What were you two doing down there anyway?" asked Buck curiously.

"I'm a cabin boy for the captain. He told me that he had lost his keys and told me to look around for them. He also said that it was probably some boys who usually caused trouble. Told me which rooms were yours and told me to check it out.

"I should probably give these to you then." said Ezra and handed over the ring of keys.

"Are you a cabin boy too?" Chris asked, directing his question to Nathan.

"Yes, but I'm only in charge of cleaning people's rooms in first class."

Chris nodded.

"Well how about we talk tomorrow. It's getting kind of late."

"Seeing as we got what we came for I guess we'll be going back up stairs."

"I'd better retire myself." Ezra said in agreement.

JD looked from one boy to the other, "Does that mean I have to go too?"

"Yeah your chaperon probably is worried about you by now."

JD nodded and got up to walk with the rest of the boys who were leaving.

"Why don't I walk you back, kid." Said Buck, getting up too.

The pair talked along the way to JD's room.

"I hope we can all get together again tomorrow. Today was the funnest I've had on the boat yet."

"That's not a word kid. I'm glad you had fun though. Yeah it be great to have

everyone get together. It's just been me and Chris this whole entire time and even before then it was just us."

"You didn't have any friends where you were from?"

"Yeah I had some, but Chris never let anyone get close to him. I was the first one he ever talked to, and then there was Sarah."

"Who's Sarah?"

"Just someone who was special to the both of us. Especially Chris."

JD would've pressed for more but they had reached his room.

"See ya tomorrow, kid."

"Bye Buck!"

JD snuck into his room but as soon as he was inside and the door was closed he held his breath. The room was pitch black and he couldn't see a thing. His breathing hitched as he stumbled blindly through the room and finally reached his bed. He climbed underneath the covers, not bothering to even take off his shoes or to change clothes. Closing his eyes tight to block out his fear he tried to think about other things. Like his new friends and what they would all do the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning was like the day before with clear skies. Chris and Buck were hanging by a few barrels talking to each other when JD approached them.

"Hi guys!"

"Hey kid." said Buck with a wave and patted the spot next to him for the younger boy to sit. "We were just trying to figure out what to do today."

"How about we go up to first class today?"

"We can't do it without being caught until after dark."

"Oh."

There was a long pause before he asked, "Where's Vin?"

"He's down in the base. He's too scared to come out during the day."

"Why don't we go and see him."

He stood up and began making his way to the stairs without looking back to see if the others were following.

Chris looked over to Buck.

"It's so tempting to just let him go by himself."

"Aw c'mon Chris. Just humor him a bit. Besides, he ends up being quite entertaining himself."

The two stood up and ran to catch up with JD.

Vin was laying on Chris's bed looking at a book when they all entered.

"Hey Vin!" greeted JD.

"Hiya."

"I was wondering where you were. Why don'tcha come up and join us. No one will notice that you're here. There's too many kids to notice an extra one is on board."

"Thanks JD, but I think I'll stay down here."

"Well that's no fun. I want us all to play together." said JD with a pouting face.

Buck put a hand on his shoulder, "Now JD, we can't force him to come up on deck if he ain't up to it."

"But I want to play."

"How about we find something that we can do below deck?"

JD screwed up his nose, "Like what?"

"Hell, I don't know? What about you, Chris?"

Chris who was leaning against the door frame looked up when he heard his name.

"Huh?"

"What games can we play down below?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"I don't have any ideas."

"How about we go and look for Ezra. He's in first class right. We can explore up there while we go look for him." suggested JD

"I told ya we can't go up there during the day without being caught."

But JD wouldn't listen. He was dragging Vin out the room and up the stairs.

"So help me Buck if your little friend gets Vin into trouble."

"Don't worry. Everything is under control. We'll be extra careful and just hide 'em if it comes necessary."

The older boys followed the two who were halfway up the was reluctant to leave the lower deck and it showed once he was on the main level.

He was self-conscious and felt as if everyone was staring at him. Scared, he turned to go back down and ran into Chris.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." he promised.

He gave the younger boy's shoulder a squeeze and Vin nodded.

Chris smiled and the group proceeded in going up to the first class level.

Ezra was sitting in the corner of a room playing with a deck of cards, looking bored.

He checked the time and let out a sigh when he found that only twenty minutes had passed.

"A gentleman does not sigh, Ezra." reprimanded his mother.

"Yes, mother."

But she was already talking to the other gamblers at the poker table with her.

He shuffled the cards easily in his hands and would pull out the ace of spades and then the heart.

He stifled another sigh and looked up to watch his mother laugh with her company after someone said a joke.

Eyeing the door way, he spotted shadows from under the door. Looking to check to see if his mother was looking, and she wasn't, he slipped from his seat and pocketed his cards before easing himself out the room. The shadow that he had saw earlier was gone and the person with it. But he was curious so he followed in the direction he had seen them go.

After peeking into several rooms, he stumbled upon the captain's quarters.

Ezra was about to duck back out when he heard someone mumble something. Losing to his curiosity he slipped fully into the room and hid behind a piece of furniture. Looking around the corner he saw a figure slumped on a bed. It was the captain. In his hand was a bottle of whiskey that was firmly in his grasp.

An idea popped into his head and Ezra crawled closer.

It would be funny to swipe the captain's drink right from under his nose. Besides he wasn't supposed to be drinking, right?

Carefully, he began to pull the bottle away. Several times he ducked and held his breath when the captain began to stir. After what felt like ten minutes of patients, the bottle was eased from its owner's hands and was stuffed under Ezra's jacket.

In his eagerness to leave after his best pickpocket success ever, he stumbled when the ship rocked and fell to the floor with a loud grunt.

The noise alerted the captain enough to notice a figure slipping out the room in a hurry, but not enough to know who. He did however notice that his bottle was gone.

Josiah was in his small room that he shared with Nathan when he heard the booming steps of the captain approach. Both boys stood when the old man swung the door open.

His figure was disheveled and he smelled bad, but the two boys stood with their eyes staring off, waiting for him to give an order.

"Bring me those boys now!" he bellowed.

"Boys sir?" asked Josiah hesitantly, "Which ones?"

"Them runts who've been causing trouble ever since we set off. They stole my keys yesterday and today they stole more of my stuff."

Neither boy dared to look at the other. They knew that Chris and Buck weren't the one's who had stolen the keys and probably weren't responsible for whatever happened now, but they didn't want to cause trouble for themselves either.

"Did ya jest want us to go and fetch back yer item?"

"No, not this time. This time I'm not going to just settle with getting it back. This time I'm going to show them who's in charge around here."

"Are you sure it was them who stole it?" Josiah dared to ask.

"I'm not asking you to try and use your brain, Sanchez. Your orders are to bring them to me. Now before you earn trouble yourself."

The boys ran off in search of the two teenagers.

"Are we jest gonna let 'em have his way, Josiah?" asked Nathan as they ran.

"We don't really have that much of a choice." he replied gloomily.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're on the first class deck." JD marveled as they walked along the corridor.

"Just try not to draw too much attention to us, JD." said Chris from the back of the group. He was looking out for any sailor that might cause them trouble.

"I think out of all of us, JD is the most likely not to cause any suspicion." Vin pointed out as he looked at his clothes.

Chris and Buck both looked at their clothes which were dirty and worn out.

JD was dressed in his formal clothes which were clean and pressed.

"He's got a point there, old dog." laughed Buck.

Just then JD ran ahead and the others had to run to catch up.

"What is it, kid?" asked Buck from behind, "Why did you take off like that?"

"I thought I saw Ezra run this way."

A few seconds later they heard a growl and footsteps. The older boys pushed the younger ones into a water closet and pressed themselves all inside until they heard the sound of the captain disappear.

"Can we get out now?" Buck huffed, "I think one of Vin's pointy elbows is in my rib cage."

The four boys stumbled back into the corridor and looked in the direction they figured the captain went in.

"I wonder what's his problem?" Buck said while rubbing his side.

Chris wasn't thinking about that. His mind was still on what JD had said earlier about seeing Ezra running away. He wondered if the captain was going after him, and then he wondered if it was wise to stay up here knowing that an angry and violent man was on the rampage and probably wouldn't take to kindly to find two troublemakers and a stowaway on the first class deck.

"We should probably leave."

"But what about looking for Ezra?" JD whined.

"We can look for him another time."

"Something wrong, pard?" asked Buck confused.

"It's just probably not safe for us to be up here right now."

The younger boys' faces fell but listened and began making their way back down.

Buck was still confused but followed after Chris.

When they all reached their base they found Josiah and Nathan waiting for them outside.

JD instantly lit up.

"Nathan, Josiah. Are you here to play with us?"

"Not quite, JD." said Nathan, looking pretty down.

"What's wrong?" asked Chris, not wanting the conversation to drag out.

"The captain wants to see the two of you." said Josiah, getting to the point.

"Why?"

"We can't say. We were just told to come and get you."

"Well to hell if he thinks I'm going anywhere." said Buck, crossing his arms.

"Did something happen?" asked Chris.

"Something was stolen from the captain's room. He didn't say what, but he told us to come and bring you and Buck to him."

"What, so if anything happens then it's now our fault!" Buck growled.

Chris laid a hand on Buck's shoulder and the younger boy looked at his friend confused.

"I'll go. You stay here with the others."

"No, I'm not going to let you go and take the punishment of something we didn't do!"

"Buck," Chris rose his voice for the first time, "Just do this for me and protect the others."

Seeing that he couldn't dissuade him, Buck nodded.

"Let's go." Chris said, looking at Josiah and Nathan.

The two nodded and the three set off up stairs.

Ezra was fiercely working on cleaning his shirt from the spilled whiskey when he heard his mother call for him. Abandoning the shirt he picked up a new one and slipped it on as he walked to the door. He had just finished buttoning the shirt up when he spotted his mother standing at their door talking with someone.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Ezra walked up to stand beside her to get a look at their caller.

It was the captain, which made him nervous, but he also saw that he was holding Chris roughly by his arm. Almost yanking him about.

Chris didn't look up but kept silent as the captain went on about how the boy he had in hand was a little thief and that he was warning the first class passengers about him. He did reassure them though that he was going to take care of the boy just in case.

"I knew that boy was nothing but trouble captain. That's what happens when they are not properly brought up like my dear boy here."

Ezra bristled at the attention and diverted his eyes when Chris finally looked up. He didn't want the older boy to see his guilt which he was certain was written all over his face if it didn't show in his eyes.

"Your boy is definitely the gentleman, Mrs Standish." Said the captain, giving a bow before making his way down the corridor, dragging Chris along with him. Chris was still looking at Ezra in a deep glare.

"I say, that boy has no manners whatsoever."

Ezra couldn't find himself to humor his mother, and just walked back into their room and into his small bedroom.

His mother however didn't notice that he was gone and kept talking, "I'm sure he'll earn a beating that he'll never forget."

Ezra closed his eyes and tried to shut out his mother's words.

Chris was sure after seeing Ezra, that it was he who stole whatever belonged to the old man who was dragging him door to door and calling him a thief to every first class passenger.

No one showed any sympathy or pity for him. They only had eyes for disgust. Offering suggestions for punishment.

He knew he couldn't trust the little rich kid the moment he saw him. It was like there was a big flag warning him that he was nothing but trouble. Now Chris was being punished for something the like rich boy did and there wasn't a single adult who would listen to him.

The other boys waited in the base, nervous. It felt like hours had passed before they heard footsteps approach the door and then finally it opened to reveal a broken Chris.

Vin and Nathan, who had came back down stairs, moved off one bed so Chris could lay down.

Slumping down on the firm mattress, Chris let out a painful gasp as the movement sent signals to his brain.

Nathan went to his side, followed by the others who stood behind him, not sure of what to do.

"Is it alright if I take a look?" he asked unsure if the older boy would take a swing at him if he did.

Chris grunted a yes and Nathan lifted his shirt.

There were cuts and welts all along his back. Some skin was broken and there was a bit of blood.

JD looked away and Buck closed his eyes and shook his head.

"This is just messed up." his voice becoming louder, "Why does he treat us like we're nothing? What evidence did he even have that it was us?

"There's no point in being mad, Buck. Nothings going to come out of it." said Josiah in a low voice.

"I'll tell you what's going to come out of it."

"No." mumbled Chris.

The others fell silent so they could hear him.

"We do nothing."

"But, pard-"

"If we do anything, then we'll be exactly what they call us."

"But we gotta do something."

"Don't worry about it right now."Chris paused for a minute to catch his breath.

"Right now, I want to know for a fact who the thief really is that I took a for."

Ezra knocked on the door cautiously and he was a little surprised to see Josiah and Nathan there. Chris was lying on his stomach, the welts on his back exposed. Nathan was trying to clean the open wounds.

"Mr Larabee, I'm sor-"

"Save that formal crap, Standish! You ain't no gentleman. You're just a thieving coward and a liar. 'The grave of my sainted mother', your mom is still alive you lying piece of-"

"Chris!" Buck interrupted before he could finish.

Chris looked around at JD and Vin who were looking at him and Ezra in alarm.

He gave a painful sigh, the pain in his back made breathing a task.

"Just like Peter from the Bible, when Jesus is accused when he is in fact innocent. Peter says he doesn't know him. Letting Jesus become a sacrificial lamb." Josiah said to no one but himself, but everyone heard him including Ezra.

"Ok I messed up, but I came down here to offer you an apology."

"I don't want your half-a-"

"Chris!"

"Just leave." Chris finished before lying back down.

Ezra looked at the others. No one made eye contact with him. He lifted his head with as much dignity that he had left as he walked out the room.

"So it really was Ezra." said Vin in somewhat disbelief.

"We all knew it had to have been Ezra. He's the only one to have access to getting whatever he did because he lives in first class. We were all together when this supposedly happened and none of us did it. Plus JD said he saw Ezra running like he had done something."

"Well I thought it was him. I wasn't all that sure."

"There's no need to go and try defending him." Buck said with a frown, "It's not like he's going to get into trouble. Man, if I had my way I'd pummel him."

"Doesn't matter. We're through with him." said Chris with a grunt as he repositioned himself on the bed.

No one dared to disagree.

The rest of the day was spent with the boys coming in and out of the base to check on Chris who still hadn't worked up enough energy to move around yet.

Buck found out that the captain had ordered that they wouldn't receive food for the night and sought help from Josiah.

"I know I can't force you to give us something, and Chris wouldn't have minded the rashings, but the food we get is what we share with Vin and he's all bone right now."

Josiah nodded in understanding, "Okay, I'll come by later and bring you all something to eat. Chris ought to eat something too to keep up his strength. No worries there will be some left over for you."

"Thanks, pard." Buck gave a big grin before running back to where he had left Vin and JD.

That night was fairly rough for all the boys that particular evening. Chris was moaning in pain. Vin had to sleep in Buck's bed to give Chris room, and Buck moved a lot in his sleep. Buck was dreaming about everyone on his hate list and what he wanted to do to all of them when he had the chance. Ezra couldn't sleep because he was still thinking about what he had done, and his mother's laughter from the other room didn't help. JD, who always found nights difficult, was worried that his friends would start hating each other on their second day together as a group. Josiah was hating himself for not speaking up and Nathan was hating himself for not being able to do more to help ease Chris's pain.

The wind outside was howling and the ship creaked. Waves beating against the ship made it rock back and forth.

When morning came around it was still dark and the waves were still stirring.

Chris was feeling well enough to leave his room and stand out on the main deck by mid-morning.

Some people would send glares his way and whisper something to one another.

It didn't bother him really. No one had really held him in high esteem before. Well except for Buck and Sarah, but even that ended when he was sent overseas. Now he only had Buck left.

His heart tried to tell him he had the other boys, but he chose to ignore that.

After standing there by himself for a while he was joined by Vin who was slowly getting used to being up on the main deck during the day. He would still look around nervously, but it was still progress.

Neither of them spoke for a short span of time until Vin finally broke it.

"Can't ya just forgive 'em?"

"What you too now? JD want's me to forgive him because he doesn't want to feel guilty about playing with him. Josiah said that I should forgive him because it's the Christian thing to do and that I'd be condemning my soul to hell if I don't. Nathan says I should forgive him because it's not healthy to hold onto anger." Chris looked down at Vin, "What's your reason?"

"You were doing it to protect 'em."

"Huh?"

"Ya could've easily not have went, but ya did. Ya could've said it was Ezra who done it and we were all witness to 'em having the cap's keys."

"I guess that's one way to look at it."

"Or basically what happened." Chris glared down at Vin, "Look, it's jest your nature to protect others. Like what you're doing with me."

Chris thought over this information in his head. He really didn't think about it in that way, but to others it looked different.

"I don't know Vin. I was pretty tempted to punch the little punk."

"Yeah I guess that's our normal response when our trust been broken."

"Trust?"

"Yeah I know it's a hard concept for ya since ya don't like to trust people, but I feel like you've been letting us be in your life.

"You're quite the chatterbox today aren't you. Pretty knowledgeable too."

Vin offered a smile and they stood in silence a little longer till Chris began to frown out towards the ocean.

"What is it?"

"There." he pointed to a dark spot where the clouds look menacing. "Doesn't that look like a thunderstorm heading our way?"

"Could be."

"Yeah well it's traveling pretty fast. Go and tell Buck to go and find JD. Tell them to meet me at the foot of the stairs. Then hurry on over to Josiah and Nathan to start warning passengers and the captain. We probably can't out run this storm but we can sure as hell try."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go look for Ezra."

"You're going on the first class deck. But everyone up there knows ya as a thief."

"What better way than to get their attention. Go on now."

Chris turn and ran towards the upper stair case.

On the way he thought about what Vin had said. He was more trusting. It showed when he gave Vin the responsibility to go and find his friend and alert the others to what was happening. A smile creeped across his face at the thought.

The first class deck was pretty quiet. No one was up yet since it was still considered early.

Chris remembered from walking with the captain where Ezra's room was.

A woman opened the door. Ezra's mother.

"Oh my child. You don't give up do you. There's nothing for you here."

"I'm not going to bother about telling you that it wasn't me who stole those things. I need you to listen. There's a storm heading our way and it's approaching fast. You and Ezra need to be prepared to evacuate the ship if all goes rotten."

"How do you know my son enough to come and warn us and risking the captain's disapproval?"

"I don't."

Mrs Standish nodded, "He's in the back asleep."

She let Chris inside and he walked into the back room where Ezra was curled up fast asleep.

He looked completely different now that he wasn't all dressed up and his hair all gelled up.

"Ezra!" Chris gave a violent shake.

Ezra however didn't stir.

"EZRA!" Chris slapped the boy across the face.

Ezra shot up and his hands flew to protect his face.

When his eyes focused and he realised it was Chris, he still wasn't at ease.

"Please, I'm sorry!"

"I ain't here about that, Standish. There's a storm approaching and we need to get everyone out of here."

Ezra sprang from his bed and got dressed quickly.

"Where's my mother?"

"She's outside."

The boys went back into the room where Ezra's mom had been, but she wasn't there anymore.

"Where did she go?"

"She does this. In the end she only cares about herself. We should probably go ourselves."

Chris retraced his steps back down the stairs. When they were on the main deck the two spotted the others by the side railing.

"What's going on?" yelled Chris over the roaring waves.

The storm was almost there and the waves were steadily growing bigger.

Rain pelted them from above making it hard to see.

"The captain is so drunk that he can't function. We're having everyone get into the boats." yelled Josiah.

"This one here," pointed Nathan to a boat being prepped for going over the side, "Is ours."

"Buck and JD are down stairs waiting to be called up." reported Vin.

"Ok, you go and get them. We're going to set off in a bit."

Vin nodded and was running back to the stairs when lightening struck the mast and it came crashing down towards Vin.

"VIN!"

Chris's body reacted and he ran over to push the younger boy out of the way just in time, but not enough for him to escape himself.

Vin toppled to the deck and got up to all fours to see what happened. The rain made it hard for him to see anything.

"Chris?" he called out.

No response.

"Chris! Chris where are you?" his voice becoming desperate.

The other boys took up the cry.

"I found him!" called Nathan.

The others gathered around the beam that had fallen on their friend.

Luckily it was being held up by the railing, but still had the boy pinned to the floor.

"I can't get out. I'm stuck."

The boys all began to pull on the heavy beam, but it was no use.

"Ok stop." yelled Josiah. "We can't all pull. Some of us need to pull him out as soon as we lift it up high enough."

"I can do that." volunteered Vin.

"I'll assist you."said Ezra.

Nathan ran to get Buck and JD while Josiah stayed with Chris and the others.

Chris couldn't move or even utter a word. He feared that moving even the slightest would have the beam coming down on top of him and crush him.

He heard the others moving around him and talking to one another. He heard Vin tell him to hang on and that they would get him out soon.

Chris began to worry that their concern for him would have them all killed. He wanted to tell them to leave him and get off the ship, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to say it. If not moving was keeping the beam from crushing him then he could've easily solved this and have moved to have it come falling down. However there was something keeping him from doing it. Something telling him that he needed to keep fighting. To keep living.

Buck ran up to the beam where his friend was pinned down.

"Chris are you alright?"

"Buck we need you to concentrate. You, Josiah, and I will lift the beam. Vin and Ezra will pull him from underneath. Carefully."

"What do I do?" asked JD feeling a little left out and wanting to be of use.

"Nothing right now, JD. Just stay close so we don't lose you."

The boys began to work.

At first it didn't look like anything was happening, but then the obstacle began to budge in the slightest.

"Careful not to let it fall back down boys." called Josiah over the storm.

Vin and Ezra began pulling Chris from underneath. He groaned a bit, but didn't say anything.

"Is he dead?" yelled JD to Nathan who went to check.

"Nah, he's alive. Nothing seems wrong."

"We should leave." said Buck as he grabbed JD's hand and ran over to the boat that was waiting for them.

Nathan and Josiah helped Chris into the boat and they were quickly followed by Vin. The boat was lowered and was about to be pushed away from the ship when Chris looked around.

"Wait, where's Ezra?"

They all turned their heads upwards to see a small face peering down at them.

"Ezra jump!" yelled Josiah over the crashing waves.

The boat began to move away from the ship, but Ezra didn't seem to be making any movement to jump.

"Ezra!" yelled Chris. His pain forgotten at the thought of leaving the younger boy behind. "Get down here now! I'll get you."

Ezra shook his head violently and almost appeared petrified by fear.

"If he doesn't jump soon then we'll be too far away for one of us to swim and go get him." said Nathan.

"Standish, damnit jump!"

This time Chris's order was received by seeing the young boy practically fall into the ocean.

Before anyone could stop him, Chris dove in after him.


	3. Chapter 3

Ezra flailed his arms in desperation to keep himself afloat. His breathing was frantic as he tried to keep his mouth closed to keep water from going in.

He saw someone jump out of the boat and began swimming towards him.

A wave suddenly swept over his head and he was taken in an under current.

Ezra's mind was screaming as he struggled to pull himself back up to the surface.

He stretched out a hand, hoping that whoever was out there would find him.

Something wrapped around his wrist and pulled Ezra upwards until his head emerged.

Ezra coughed up water and rested his head on the person's shoulder. He felt sick and wanted nothing more than this all to be over.

His rescuer told him to hold on in a voice that was Chris who he had remembered telling him to jump and that he would swim out and get him.

Ezra recalled his mother telling him that he could never trust anyone because it was the surest way of being let down, but he had put his life in Chris's hands and trusted him enough to come and get him.

It was difficult for Chris to swim out and find Ezra with water splashing in his face and waves constantly beating him about, but after watching the other boy lose the fight to stay afloat, he quicken his strokes and dove under the water to reach him.

Chris's forethought wasn't how he was going to try and manage getting Ezra and himself back to the others. Now that he had the half-drowned boy in his arms he had to come up with some form of a plan.

"Over here!" yelled Buck over the crashing waves and rain.

Chris looked over his shoulder and saw the others doing their best to paddle towards them.

Using one arm to hold onto Ezra, he used the other arm and his feet to paddle towards the boat.

Josiah pulled Ezra in first before Chris was hauled inside the small boat.

Looking around, Chris saw that everyone was now accounted for.

JD was in near tears clinging onto Buck.

Vin latched himself onto Chris.

Nathan and Josiah each sat on an end while Ezra pressed himself into the lowest part of their vessel.

"Are we going to die?" asked JD from his side of the boat. His small voice almost carried away in the storm.

Chris couldn't provide any answer. He didn't want to fill them with false hope especially when none of them had any control of their situation.

"Everyone, get as low as possible so we don't fall out!"

"What if the boat capsizes?"

That was running through Chris's mind, but he knew that thinking about it wasn't going to do them any good. He needed them to listen so that they could all try and get out of this alive.

"Get down!" he instructed again.

Everyone did as another wave tossed their little boat around.

JD began to cry and it sounded as if another boy was too.

Chris thought that if he got out of this alive then he would never throw his life away again.

They all woke up sore and thirsty. The sky was still dark. Not quite morning yet. The clouds passed over the moon giving off an eery feeling.

"Are we dead yet?" yawned JD as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Might as well be." Buck replied as he scanned the waters around them, "There isn't anything in sight."

The others began to look around them.

"Well obviously we aren't-"

"Out of the water." interrupted Vin, trying to lighten the mood.

Chris frowned and continued, "Safe yet, and the only way to be safe right now is to reach land."

"I'm hungry and thirsty." complained JD.

"We all are, JD." moaned Ezra as his and everyone else's stomachs began to make noises.

"We should start paddling."

"Which direction might you suggest, Mr Larabee?"

"Seems like your tongue survived last night, Standish. We should find west and head in that direction."

"Why can't we go back east?" frowned Nathan.

"Because we've been heading west." answered Josiah.

"So."

"We've been sailing for days. Five days to be exact. Why try and survive five days out in open sea with no food or water with seven boys. Plus we'll be moving slower than we did on the ship so it'll take longer."

"Josiah is right." nodded Chris.

"But we don't know how far we're out from America. Why take a chance of it being farther?"

"There are little islands along the way to the mainland of America. We can stop at one of those."

"How do we find west?" asked Buck.

"We look at the position of the sun." said Vin.

All of the boys looked up to see a cloudy sky.

"We might have to wait a bit for the clouds to move." Nathan suggested.

The boys all began to try and get comfortable. It was hard with so little room for them all to stretch out so some ended on top of each other.

JD sat on Buck's lap while Nathan and Josiah took up one end of the boat and sat next to each other. Vin sat next to Chris and rested his head on his arm while Ezra sat on Chris's other side and sat as straight as a rod so as not to touch the other boy.

"Something wrong with ya, Ez?" asked Vin from his side of Chris.

"There's nothing the matter with me, Mr Tanner. I just don't prefer to mingle with you all is all."

"Mingle?" scoffed Buck, "We didn't ask you to join us on our food raid and we certainly didn't invite you to escape with us!"

"Yeah, Chris did!" Vin argued.

Buck looked to his old friend in disbelief, "Why?"

Chris let out a heavy sigh. He didn't particularly like explaining why he'd done the things he did, but he knew Buck would keep his hatred for Ezra until he did.

"Vin just told me something that made sense to me. He did it in a way that made it hard to keep hating him."

Buck turned to Vin. Everyone, including Ezra did likewise.

"What did you say?"

Vin, suddenly not liking all the attention dipped his head to hide and tried to mutter something.

"What?" asked JD, he turned to Buck, "What did he say?"

"Speak up, Vin."

Vin dipped his head further and mumbled something again.

Chris frowned at their rudeness to the shy boy.

"He told me that it was in my nature to be protective of others."

The others just sat in silence for a little bit before Buck began to laugh.

"Yeah I can totally see it, pard. You're like a natural born leader."

The others nodded except for Ezra who was still not sure if he should believe it.

"But why risk your life for me, twice if I might add?"

"Even though you can be a pain, Standish, you're already one of us, and that means I can't sit by and be idle if you're in trouble."

"Ok ok, it's not like you're running for office here, Chris." laughed Nathan.

The others laughed too and Chris smiled.

"I guess this means I owe you then, Mr Larabee."

"How about you tell us what you stole and we can call it even?"

Ezra hesitated before nodding, "I was feeling a bit blasé so I went for a walk. That's when I discovered the captain of our vessel in a drunken stupor."

"A what?" asked JD.

"He fell asleep after drinking too much." translated Nathan.

"Anyway, I decided after seeing the bottle in his hand that it would be a great prize to steal his whiskey."

"So you're a thief." Chris arched an eyebrow.

"I prefer the term pickpocket, and will yall allow me to finish."

After no one said anything, Ezra began again.

"I took the bottle from his hands and would've made off with it too if it weren't for the sudden gravity pull that made me fall. He woke up and I just barely made it out in time before he came out of his room. I went back to my own room to clean off the spilled whiskey."

"Yeah, knowing the whole story doesn't make me happier." grunted Buck.

"Why didn't you say it was you who stole it when the captain made his rounds with Chris?" frowned Nathan

"I don't know."

"How do you not know?" growled Buck.

"My mother told me that if I was going to do something that was against the law that I should do it without getting caught."

The boys stared at him in disbelief.

"So letting someone else take the fall doesn't matter to you?"

"It's not like I felt good about it."

"No, because you didn't feel anything when you did it." offered Buck.

He then turned to look back at his old friend, "Still think you should've saved him?"

Everyone grew silent as they waited for the sun to appear. Vin fell asleep in Chris's lap and JD in Buck's. Nathan and Josiah let their long limbs hang off the side of the boat to get cooler. Chris remained alert, scanning the ocean and checking the sky. Ezra moved to the end of the boat that wasn't occupied and curled up into a tight ball.

"I don't care what you did, Standish."

"Really?" the younger boy's voice was uncertain.

"No, so long as you don't do it again."

Chris took the boy's silence as a yes.

The sun eventually appeared and Vin was able to tell them which way west was.

The older boys would take turns rowing, and even JD would offer to help though he didn't do much in the way of helping.

To distract their hunger they played games which was provided by Ezra who supplied the entertainment.

Vin and JD would marvel at his tricks that he did with the half dry deck of cards that had somehow survived the water. Whenever he was able to correctly locate the ace of spades the younger boys would clap.

"That's some skill you got there, Ez." remarked Josiah after watching for a while.

"My mother taught me and thing or two in the ways of dealing."

"Like cheating?" asked Chris suspiciously.

"I've never had a reason to cheat in cards. If my opponents lost then it was because their skills were sorely lacking."

"So you've never cheated before?"

"No."

"Why don't you show us another trick, Ez?" suggested Vin.

The last thing there needed to be right now was a heated fight on their small boat.

"Gladly." Then showed a devious grin, "Mr Larabee, will you help me with this one?"

Chris had just switched places with Buck in rowing and now it was his turn to rest.

"Huh?"

"Will you be my assistant?"

"I don't really feel like being the butt of your jokes right now."

"I assure you it's nothing of the kind."

Chris was eventually coaxed into participating and he sat down next to the younger boy.

"Alright, all I need you to do is to pick a card and write your name on it."

"With what?"

"I don't think I understand your question."

"What am I writing with?"

"Oh, right." Ezra's expression fell after realizing he was missing a pen.

Chris picked up a card and flipped it over. Ace of clubs.

Fishing into his pocket, he fished out his pocket knife.

"Would it work if it was blood?"

"Not quite. The point is to have it permanent. However I can do it without your bloodshed."

He took Chris's card and placed it back into the deck and shuffled them around before telling Chris to find his card again.

After looking through the whole deck once and even a second time more slowly he finally said that it wasn't there.

"Is this your card?" He showed him Chris's card.

"How did you do that?" asked JD in amazement.

"It wouldn't be magic if I told you."

"More like a whole lot of manipulation." muttered Buck.

"I agree that this particular trick isn't my favorite and a pen would've been useful."

"Admit it. You slipped Chris's card out of the deck before shuffling."

"I don't think I like what you are accusing me of, Mr Wilmington."

"Is it because I'm right?"

Ezra looked like he was going leap up and tackle Buck, but instead he let out the breath and ran his hands through his hair before putting his cards into his pocket.

"I think I'll retire the cards for the day."

"Yeah you do that." mumbled Buck.

"A gentleman never engages himself in a fight, but only to defend his honor. I won't fight you now because we're on a small vessel that has five more people in it."

"I thought we already said that you weren't a gentleman. What honor do you have after throwing someone under a bus just to get out of trouble?"

The two glared at each other until Nathan finally cleared his throat to get their attention.

"How about we tell each other about ourselves?" suggested Nathan.

"By all means, Mr Jackson, and you can start first." Ezra gestured with his hand as he leaned back to get comfortable.

Nathan shifted uneasily, but nodded.

"I'm from a big family from the south of America. My parents couldn't afford to take care of all of us so I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle. They were like parents to me even more so than my real ones. Anyway, times got rough and especially after my aunt died. My uncle told me to work for the ship that we was on to make money. It also gave me a place to sleep and food. As a bonus I got to travel."

There was a long silence of uncertainty if he was going to continue, but after a few minutes Vin raised his hand.

"I guess i'll go next then."

The others were surprised that he'd volunteered, but didn't say anything as the boy started.

"I'm from the midwest area of America. My parents died when I was young. Around my eighth birthday. Been an orphan ever since. They tried putting my in foster homes, but I would always run away. I made my way east and caught a ship to cross the ocean. After running around over there and getting into some trouble I decided to make my way back over to America. I don't have any plans yet to do there once I arrive though."

Vin looked down at his hands and waited for someone else to start.

Josiah cleared his throat and everyone gave him their attention, "I came from the west part of America. You could say it's because I'm on the run. My dad was a missionary and even though he was kind to those he preached the gospel to he wasn't so kinda at home. He was real strict with me and my younger sister till the point of abuse which he said was to help with my sinful ways. When we were in England I ran off and got a job as a cabin boy to cross the Atlantic and get back to America. I regret leaving my sister behind, but I wasn't sure if it would've been wise if I did because I didn't know how I was going to take care of myself."

"Can I go next?" asked JD.

Chris nodded.

"I was an orphan after my mom died. I lived with my aunt for a bit but she can't keep taking care of me so she is sending me to be adopted by a family in America."

"You ain't American?" Buck asked in surprise.

"No I am. My mom was American and my dad British. We were living in England."

"Man that must be rough."

"I guess it's my turn then." sighed Ezra.

"It's just been my mother and I for the longest. She's married several times, but the marriage never last long. We are originally from South part of America, but we've been traveling for the last four years overseas. We were just coming from England and heading back to America where I was going to be staying with some relatives while she goes to Asia."

"What's in Asia?"

"For her, money and opportunity."

"I hear they eat dogs." whispered JD.

Ezra couldn't help but smile, "Indeed you heard correctly, Mr Dunne."

JD's face fell and he began to whimper.

"Someone else go please!"

Buck looked at Chris who didn't look at all phased that it was only them who hadn't gone yet.

"Did you want to go last, old dog?"

That made Chris turn to look at Buck.

"What?"

"Want to go now or did you want to be last?"

It looked like from Chris's expression that he was trying to process that information. Then he gave a small chuckle.

"If we weren't on a small boat surrounded by miles of water. I would've walked away by now."

"There's always the option of swimming." offered Vin.

"I guess I could do both of us then." said Buck.

"Can't he just speak for himself?"

"Chris ain't one to talk about himself."

"Like we all are. I take that back. JD likes talking about himself."

"Huh?" asked JD.

"Fine I'll just go first then shall I? Buck said, silencing everyone.

"I lived with my mom who was a prostitute. Yeah I know that's interesting, but I don't hate my mom for it. She loves me and does her best to take care of me. She is the woman of my heart. Anyway, I met Chris when I was at school and I was the first one to become his friend. It was a marvelous feat since he doesn't let anyone into his life. I introduced him to one of my friends Sarah and we all hung out together. One day I was told that Chris was being sent overseas so I asked my mom if I could go with him. I have family that live in America and I knew that if he went alone then I'd never hear or see him again. Plus I get to spend the summer abroad. I do miss my mom though. It was hard leaving her, but she encouraged me and helped me get a ticket."

"Why were you sent overseas?" asked Josiah to Chris.

"I guess that's my cue more or less that it's my turn."

With a heavy sigh, Chris began.

"I'm a foster kid who had the reputation of going on rampages and beating people up, or so the rumors go. I only beat up those who I see picking on smaller kids. I was in my fifth foster home when I was sent to Buck's school. He introduced me to Sarah and we were all pretty close. Sarah was a girl who lived down the street from me. We started to secretly date behind her parents' backs. Unfortunately I did something stupid and she got pregnant. Her father got upset and had me sent overseas. No one had any problem of agreeing with him. Even though I tried to say it was an accident. I was packed up and put on the next ship to America with no one to accompany me or tell me what was going to happen to me after I arrived. Lucky for me Buck said he'd come along and see if I could stay with his relatives and work there till I could live on my own."

"Where's Sarah now?" asked Vin, not sure if he was allowed to ask.

"She is still living with her parents. I don't think she was forced to do an abortion as far as I know. She told me that if it was a girl it would be named Abby and Adam if it was a boy."

Ezra cleared his throat and Josiah gave a chuckle.

"Dude, and I thought Bucklin would be the one to get into a scrape of that kind." laughed Vin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" frowned Buck.

All the boys began to laugh.

"Our lives are pretty messed up, aren't they?"

"That's an understatement."

Josiah nodded, "Runaways, orphans, foster kids, underage workers, and trouble makers. We sure make a lousy bunch."

"Or we make a bunch that has experienced more things than others have. Giving us a bigger advantage than kids our age in this situation." said Chris, he turned from Vin to Ezra, "We know how to survive and we know how to thrive." Looking at the rest he said, "We may have been caught off guard, but now we know what to do."

All the boys nodded in agreement.

"This is exciting." grinned JD.

"I don't know why." laughed Buck, "We haven't done anything yet."

"I'm sure the kid was just inspired by Chris's words just like the rest of us were." smiled Josiah.

The boys spent the rest of the day taking turns paddling and sharing stories about their lives. They were all still pretty hungry and thirsty and tried to distract their stomachs by talking about their favorite foods.

There was always two people up to row while the rest slept. They developed an easy routine that allowed each to rest and everyone had a turn at the oars.

Another storm hit the next day which brought their spirits down. They did however tilt their heads back to try and catch a few raindrops in their mouths.

When the storm finally settled and the clouds moved on Josiah noticed a speck in the distance.

"What's that over there?"

Everyone scrambled to see what the eldest boy was pointing at.

"Is that what I think that is?" asked Nathan.

"Indeed, Mr Jackson. I do believe that's land ahead."

"Yippee!" cheered JD as he threw himself into Buck's arms in an embrace.

"Let's get rowing then." ordered Chris.

The boys all sat down and two of them began rowing."

The speck in the distance began to get bigger and a canopy of trees began to form.

When they finally were in swimming distance Buck, Vin, Josiah, Nathan and Chris all jumped out.

After swimming for about a minute, Chris turned and saw that Ezra was doing his best to row the boat with JD.

Looking around to the others, he called them all back.

"Let's all arrive on shore together."

The others began swimming back to the boat.

Buck swam beside the boat with Vin while Nathan, Josiah and Chris got back inside to help row.

The seven ran onto shore and flung the sand in the air. Vin and JD ran around like crazy and Ezra laid down on the ground face down.

Chris smiled to himself. He was thankful that they had all gotten this far, but he knew that it was far from over. They still didn't know where they were exactly and he was pretty sure that they weren't in North America if it was all untamed jungle.

Once they all settled down Chris started giving instructions.

"We should start looking for water and food first. Vin and Josiah and look for water. Nathan and Ezra can look for food. We also need to start preparing for the night. A shelter isn't as necessary out on the beach as it would be inside the jungle, but we should build a fire if only to practice for when we do need it. Buck and JD, that will be your job. I'll go see if I can find out where we are."

"Excuse me, but why do I have to do menial labor?" frowned Ezra.

"Because everyone is going to be pulling their own weight around here and Nathan knows a thing or two about plants and which ones are edible. He'll need someone to help him carry whatever you guys find."

"What about looking for water?"

"Vin is good at locating things and is good about leaving trails so as not to get lost. Josiah is going with him so if there is any trouble then he'll be there."

Ezra mumbled something under his breath but didn't argue again.

The boys all set off in their different directions.

Josiah and Vin went deep into the jungle. Chris had handed Vin his pocket knife to use if he needed it. Vin now pulled it out and used it to make markers on the trees to help trace his steps. Josiah watched him work.

"You're pretty good at this."

"I learned at a young age that I need to know how to find things in order to survive, and to find ways to trace myself."

He carved a small mark into another tree.

"See this. I created a special marking system in order to not get confused about which one is which."

"Have you ever regretted running away?"

Vin stopped what he was doing and looked down at the earth.

"Sometimes I think about what I could've been missing out on. The birthday celebrations, the holidays, Christmas with a family and presents." He then looked up and gave a waning smile, "But there's no such thing as a dream family. Ya get what you're born into and if you're lucky ya might be apart of a loving family. I jest wasn't so lucky is all."

The two continued to walk, Josiah still thinking over what Vin had said.

"Chris stayed with his foster family." he said thoughtfully.

"And even then they let him be sent overseas like they were sending an animal to the pound."

"Do you have something against adults like Chris?"

The question surprised Vin, "No, I jest don't trust 'em is all."

"You and Chris have a lot in common."

That made both boys smile as they kept trudging through the jungle.

"No matter what Chris said I still want to deck that kid." muttered Buck as he bent over to pick up two more pieces of wood.

"Why?" asked JD as he stooped down to pick up a stick and succeeded in dropping the ones he already had in his hands.

Buck shook his head and helped the younger boy pick them up.

"I just think that Chris has been trusting a little too much of late. It took me years to get him to come around and talk to me. Now he's acting like he's running for the most trusting award. Hell he even shared his past with ya'll."

"You're acting like that's a bad thing to be happy."

"I'm happy that he's happy. Trust me it's been a long time, but I-"

"Jealous that Vin is already pretty close to Chris?"

"What? No!" Then Buck thought about it, "Do you think so?"

"I think you've been too busy thinking about Ezra hurting Chris and Chris forgiving him not to notice that Vin and Chris seem pretty tight."

Buck frowned and threw his bundle of sticks down on the ground. JD looked at him in surprise. "It's not a bad thing you know."

"If that scrawny little stick thinks he can replace me as Chris's best friend then he's wrong."

And to prove it, Buck picked up a thick branch that he had dropped and broke it across his knee before storming off back to the beach with JD calling after him.

"This is so degrading." Ezra complained as he stood behind Nathan who was looking at something on the jungle floor.

"If you really don't like it then you can go and take it up with Chris. I'm sure he could pair you up with Buck and collect sticks."

"Is there a secret meaning behind your words, Mr Jackson?"

"It's Nathan, and I'm jest saying that ya could be in a different pairing that could be a whole lot worse."

"And being with Mr Wilmington would be worse how?"

"He hates you."

"He's just Mr Larabee's attack dog. If he's been called off then he'll leave me alone."

"Wow, ya sure have a mouth. No wonder he doesn't like ya."

Ezra lifted an eyebrow, "You know what, I'm going to prove you wrong."

With that he began walking back to the beach. Nathan shook his head and went after him.


	4. Chapter 4

After everyone got something to drink from the spring they made their way back to the beach, careful to leave a marked trail so they could find their way back.

"Ok," said Chris, drawing everyone's eyes on him, "The main goal today is food. Since we already know where the water is we will all go in pairs looking for anything edible."

"There's seven of us though." pointed JD after counting everyone.

"That just means one group will have three, Mr Dunne,"said Ezra rolling his eyes.

"No, I'll go by myself. The more we spread out the better chances of us finding something."

"And the better chances of us getting killed." Nathan pointed out.

"That's why you're being paired up. Josiah you're with Ezra, Nathan with JD, and Buck with Vin."

Vin looked at Buck warily, "Um, are you sure?"

Chris nodded.

"How come I can't be with Buck?" pouted JD.

"Cause he left you behind to get lost and we had to spend hours trying to find you." said Ezra.

"Alright guys." interrupted Chris, "Each group heads in a different direction. Try and keep a straight path. It gets hot so don't forget to take water breaks."

They all nodded and began walking into the jungle.

Chris waited until they had all left before running down the beach in the direction of the tree he had climbed in, but didn't stop this time. He kept running until the elevation began to get higher and the sand turned into rocks. The climb was rough and he slipped on the wet rocks a couple of times before he reached the top.

There was thirty feet between him and a tall wooden fence. The jungle had been cleared away to give way, allowing the fence to stretch far into the jungle.

From what Chris was able to spot yesterday, this was some form of a farm, and that meant food and people. If he could talk to these people then he and the others could get help to go to America.

Stepping up to the fence, he noticed that there wasn't any way he could easily climb over it. There was always the option of walking around, but he didn't know which side the gate was on and how far the fence went.

Kneeling, he began digging away the dirt to try and make a hole to go underneath. Several times he stopped and backed away from his hole to allow a spider to crawl away before going back to digging.

He cursed the critters under his breath as he kept going.

"Is this edible?" asked JD holding up the eighth plant he dug up to show Nathan.

"No JD."

JD threw the plant back down and wiped his dirty hands on his once clean pressed clothes.

Nathan knew JD was trying to help, but the constant questions from the little boy was too much for him to handle. He was definitely not Buck.

"Why don't you tell me what animal you spot?"

"Ok!"

With a sigh of relief Nathan went back to looking for edible roots and plants.

"Do you think Chris will get lost?"

Nathan looked up at JD who had his back to him, observing a butterfly.

"Nah I don't think so."

"But if he does we'll go looking for him right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, cause I saw him running down the beach like he was goin' somewhere."

"What?"

Nathan stood up.

"He was running like he saw something."

"Why didn't he tell anybody?"

"I dunno. Maybe he just wants to go by himself."

Nathan started walking to the beach but stopped and grabbed JD's hand, "Come one, we're getting the others."

The hole was barely big enough for him to squeeze into. Sucking in his stomach to help, he slid under the fence and crawled until he was on the other side to the wall.

There was a tall line of plants in front of him. It was corn.

He crawled until he was inside the corn field and well hidden before daring to stand up.

His heart raced as he went over the options of what he should do next.

He could try and find the owner and ask them for help, or he could get some food for his friends now and worry about that later.

He was still mulling over the two when he heard a shot fired and he ducked.

Chris was sure he was short enough not to be seen over the corn stalks, so it couldn't be him they were firing at.

"That's what happens to those who think they can steal from Mr Conklin. Move the body outside the fence for the wild animals."

The man was answered by two others and Chris heard someone moving nearby.

Staying low so as not to be seen, he moved away from the fence.

Feet passed by him dragging a body alongside them.

Chris held his breath as he watched them climb some steps and tossed the body over the tall gate and walk away.

Waiting a few minutes, he made the decision that these men were too dangerous to risk asking for help. Instead he would take the risk and steal some food.

His hands were sweaty as he reached up and pulled an ear of corn down and jam it into his pocket. He did this six more times before he heard voices.

"Must be another wild animal. Go check the back."

Chris scurried over to the fence, his heart racing as he tried to find his hole.

The footsteps grew louder as he searched the bottom of the fence. The hole wasn't there.

Trying to keep from panicking, he tried to think of something. Looking up, he saw the stairs that the men had dumped the body over.

Darting to the steps and without looking over his shoulder, he climbed the stairs by two and with a firm grip on the fence, climbed over the top and landed a few feet away from the dead body. He now heard shouts and he gathered himself up and began running.

Keeping a firm grip on his corn, he ran under cover of the trees until he was out of sight of the fence.

"What's all this about?" asked Buck as they all gathered on the beach.

"JD, would ya like to share what ya saw?"

Everyone looked to JD who wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and looked around at the others.

"I saw Chris running down the beach like he was heading somewhere."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" frowned Josiah.

The five year old shrugged.

"Well I think we should go after 'em." said Nathan crossing his arms.

"Looks like he's coming to us." Vin said as he pointed to the boy running to them.

Chris stopped short of the group and collapsed on the sand, breathing heavy, still holding the corn.

The others began questioning him all at once.

"Where did you run off to?"

"Where did you find that?"

"Why did you go alone?"

Chris held up a hand while he caught his breath.

The others quieted down for him long enough to begin speaking.

"I went to this place further down the beach. I saw a fence there yesterday and went to investigate. There's a farm down there and they are growing corn as far as I know. Someone was shot while I was hiding in the field. These men are dangerous, so I didn't take a chance on talking to them. I took as much corn as I could carry though." He showed the corn he had in his hands, "Unfortunately I think I was seen escaping. It's not safe here on the beach. We should head into the jungle."

"No." whined JD.

"I have to agree. I don't particularly like sleeping in such an unsanitary place."

"What I want to know is can we eat the corn." asked Vin.

"Let's see if we can cook this a bit." said Chris, finally standing up and leading the others into the jungle.

Two went to fetch wood while the others peeled the corn from its shell.

"How are we going to cook these exactly. Like how are we going to start a fire?" asked Vin.

"We rub two sticks together like this and then when you see smoke then there will be a flame." JD demonstrated by rubbing two little sticks together fiercely.

"Here let me try." said Buck, grabbing the sticks.

Each boy took a turn except Chris and Ezra, who was enjoying the scene.

"Do you have a light, Ez?" asked Chris, turning to Ezra.

"Do you think I just so happen to have a lighter in my pocket because I am a pickpocket?"

"Yeah."

Ezra sighed and pulled a small silver box from his pocket and tossed to the other boys.

"You couldn't have said something earlier?" frowned Buck.

"I honestly found your little efforts entertaining to watch."

Buck muttered under his breath as he lit the dry sticks and produced a flame.

They all skewered their corn on long sticks and held it over their small fire.

When they were all eating it was a good silence.

"I could go for some meat." mumbled Buck.

"Yeah, I'm not particularly fond of my starches, but I won't complain."

As the boys threw away their finished corn, Chris cleared his throat getting their attention.

"I know our first instinct is to run and get help from anybody we find, but we don't know if they are dangerous or not, so I think until we can determine whether or not these men safe to approach we should stay clear of them and the fence."

"But they have food." moaned Vin.

"That may be the case, but they also have guns, and they aren't afraid to shoot thieves."

"So what are we going to eat then?"

Everyone looked to Chris who ran his fingers through his hair trying to think of something.

"I'm not sure yet, but we'll think of something."

"Why can't Ez go and get some, he's a good thief and he ain't been caught." pointed JD.

"Yet, and I don't want to risk anybody's lives, okay."

JD nodded.

"I'm still pretty hungry." murmured Vin.

"You're growing after all." agreed Josiah.

"Hell we all are." said Buck stretching his aching limbs.

"How about we work on a shelter for the night?" suggested Nathan.

They all slowly got up and made their way back to the spring where they had slept the night before.

After they each drank, they began fumbling around, looking for something to make a shelter with.

"Use the big leaves as cover and pillows. Roll them up to make a padding for your head." instructed Nathan before showing them all what to do.

The others watched at first before grabbing some big leaves for themselves and copying him.

"Josiah, Buck and Chris can help me move some of these fallen limbs between those two boulders to make a roof and the rest of you can spread some leaves on top to keep the rain out."

They all got to work and they soon had a rugged looking shelter.

"What if there are wild animals? We got lucky last night, but shouldn't we look for a place a little higher off the ground?" asked Ezra.

They all looked up to the jungle canopy over head. Long vines hung down from trees just out of reach.

"If we can grab that vine right there, we could try making hammocks."

"How, Chris? None of us can reach it. Not even Josiah."

Chris walked up to the tree and got a firm grip of the trunk. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up just a little and then he reached up quickly to grab another holding place before he could fall back down.

The others watched his slow progression up the tree and winced when he lost his grip and was hanging from one hand before finding his footing again.

Chris gave the vine a firm tug before he grabbed onto it and pulled his whole body away from the tree until he was dangling like a monkey.

JD and Vin laughed and the other boys clapped.

Chris looked down and flashed a grin before heaving his body up the vine in a slow shimmy.

When he reached the wide branch that the vine was slung over he had to haul one leg over until he was sitting astride.

pulling the vine up with him, he uncoiled it until it almost reached the ground, but was still strong enough to hold their weight.

Once they were all up and sitting on the branch together Nathan began telling them what to do in order to make the hammocks.

The rest of the day was spent making beds and going up and down their tree.

Since night came early in the jungle, they all decided to end the day with Josiah telling them a story. This one he shared was called Tarzan which JD loved and got everyone else a little excited to try and swing from the vines.

That night they slept up in the trees in their new hammocks.

Only one person however had fallen asleep.

Buck slipped from his bed and slid down the vine to the jungle floor.

When he reached the bottom he looked up to see if anyone had heard him. Hearing nothing, he pulled the lighter out of his pocket and lit it.

Grinning, he made his way out of the jungle and to the fence.

 **A/N: I don't know the name to the cattle ranchers so the name maybe wrong. If you know please tell me. Also I'm not sure when or if there is a Tarzan book, but just work with me.**


	5. Chapter 5

It took him a while before he could locate the fence Chris had talked about. He had to turn off the lighter to make sure he wasn't seen by anyone who was on the fence.

Feeling the bottom of the fence, he found a hole big enough for him to crawl through.

The thrill of the adventure made his heart race faster as he ran into the corn fields for cover.

After calming down a little, he began pulling ears of corn from the stalks. He made several trips through the hole with handfuls of corn and hid them in the jungle under a bush.

Buck rested his hands on his hips and looked happily down at his spoils. He was able to sneak twenty-one ears of corn so far.

Checking the sky, he noticed that it was still dark outside so Buck figured he was done taking it safe.

Crawling back through the hole, he didn't stop at the corn fields this time, but kept making his way to the other side of the field where the buildings were.

Peering through the last few pieces of foliage in front of him, he noticed that there were three buildings besides the large one that sat directly ahead of him. To the right were two bunk houses and to the right was a little shed.

Keeping his eyes on the bunk house for any noises, he darted to the shed as quietly as possible. The door wasn't locked and he quietly opened the door wide enough for him to slip inside and close it back up again.

Flicking his lighter back on again he waved it slowly around to see what was inside. It was an average tool shed with everyday tools. He did however decide to take the hammer and a half dozen long nails and put them in his pockets. A thick piece of rope hung on the wall was taken and slung over his shoulder before he slipped back out and closed the door shut behind him.

Buck looked around, still wanting to find more, and spotted a cellar door connected to the main house.

Making sure that no one was up yet, Buck made his way over to find out that it was locked.

Buck couldn't help think about the time where he had first met Ezra.

Ezra would be useful in this case to pick the lock, thought Buck, but he wasn't there so he had to improvise.

Using the head of one of the nails as a flat head screw driver, he began to undo the hinges of the lock.

Every time he thought he heard something, he would stop and listen, but dismissed it as a restless bird and go back to his task.

The lock dropped to the ground with a low thud and Buck pulled one door open and climbed down the steps.

He could feel the adrenaline rushing as he flicked his light back on and looked around. The room had a little desk at the far end with a few chairs around it. There were boxes lining the walls on three of the four walls that had worn labels.

Buck held his lighter closer to see what it said but moved it away as soon as he got close.

The label read 'explosives'. Buck looked around to see that there were more labelled like that one.

"Who are these people?" whispered Buck.

They certainly weren't regular farmers if they go around shooting people and had a cellar full of dynamite.

He took a turn about the room and saw a stack of crates hidden in one corner filled with jars.

Picking one up and shining the light in front it to see what it was, Buck grinned triumphantly as he stuffed it into his pocket and then reach for another.

Footsteps from above made him freeze and he waited to see where they were headed. There were too many of them to tell where they were all going, but they all stopped and he heard someone speaking in a low voice.

"Too hell if he thinks he can come into my field plant and steal my shit. I want you to go around and see where this slippery bastard is getting in."

Buck made his way quietly but quickly to the cellar door and gently opened it only wide enough for him to ease out before shutting it gently again.

The lights were now on in the house and in the bunk houses. Running, but keeping low, Buck made his way into the security of the corn field and didn't check to see if anyone was after him. He spotted his hole and crawled underneath with a little difficulty with his extra baggage.

Turning around, he pushed the pile of dirt that was next to the hole inside of it to fill it up.

When he felt that it was enough, he got up and ran over to his bush and collected his corn.

Over his shoulder, Buck could hear the sounds of men's voices behind him, but he kept his pace slow and made his way back to the rest of the boys.

The sun would be rising soon. Buck had lost track of time while he was down in the cellar.

When he reached the spring, he set down his spoils under a bush and hid them as a surprise when the others wake up. To his own surprise, no one was up in the tree.

Buck looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" he called out.

There was rustling before Josiah appeared with JD who immediately ran to him and hugged him. The little boy kept sobbing and saying unintelligible words that know one could understand. Buck patted the five year old on the head and smiled at Josiah, but the older boy didn't smile back.

The others appeared in pairs, first Nathan and Ezra then Chris and Vin.

"What are you guys doing up so early?" Buck asked innocently.

"Looking for ya." frowned Nathan.

"Apparently Mr Dunne woke up and you weren't in bed. He cried, a lot and I had to wake up at this godforsaken hour to help with the search party." Ezra had bags under his eyes as he glared at Buck.

"Where were you?" asked Chris his voice laced with anger.

"If you must know I went over the fence."

Chris's face changed from anger to concern to anger again.

"I told you that no one should go near that place."

"Yeah well I did and it's done."

Chris shook his head and let out a long sigh, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, and you won't believe the amount of stuff I got."

Buck took them to his bush and showed them his spoils.

They all crowded around and there were words of congratulations on getting the food.

Chris eyed the tools, "What's this?"

"I figured we could use this to build an actual place to sleep, no offense Nathan."

Chris stood up and glared down at Buck.

"Why the hell would you steal something as noticeable as tools. What if they start hunting us down?"

"Relax, I heard them talking and apparently there's some other guy that he thinks is doing it. A name was muttered but I couldn't catch it."

Chris ran his hand over his face and looked away from the food and tools.

"What's this?" asked Ezra holding up a jar.

"That my friend, would be jam."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Ezra's hand. Even Chris looked.

"Can we have some right now?" asked Vin licking his lips.

"I think we ought to save it cause we only have two."

"Well Mr Wilmington, besides you having disrupted my slumber to risk a dangerous trip over the fence leaving me a little more than annoyed, I just can't go without saying that you'd make an excellent thief." Ezra gave a tired grin and Buck laughed and slapped the other boy on the back. "Don't ruin the moment by assaulting me."

"Ez, I think that's Buck's way of being friendly." Vin smiled.

The others laughed and talked a little longer before agreeing that they should go back to bed.

Chris pulled Buck aside before he climbed up the tree.

"If you ever put yourself in danger like that again and leave me."

"Don't worry old dog, we have five other friends now. It's not just us."

He gave his friend's shoulder a squeeze before taking the vine and begin climbing.

Everyone slept in that morning till early afternoon.

Ezra still lingered in his hammock saying nothing could entice him to leave it until food was mentioned and sprang out of bed.

Buck had brought back twenty-one ears of corn and two jars of jelly that now sat in front of them.

The younger ones wanted to just eat it all, but Josiah and Chris suggested that they save some of it for later on.

"If we keep up this dieting routine then I'm going to die." muttered Vin as he ate his corn.

"We need to find something else to eat. Not that I'm not grateful for the food we have, but if we're going to keep eating corn until we can find someone to help us then I'm going to turn into a corn stalk and grow ears of corn." Laughed Buck.

JD giggled and some of the corn fell out of his mouth.

"Mr Dunne, please keep your mouth closed to keep flying projectiles from getting on my food."

"What?" asked JD.

"You're spitting corn at me."

"Oh sorry."

"Changing the topic, I think the hammocks worked really well." said Nathan.

"Yeah I think it was a good idea, Nathan."

"Oh it weren't my idea, it was Josiah's."

"Why didn't you say it was you, pard?" asked Vin. He was seated next to the older boy on a large root sticking out of the ground.

"My father didn't like us to brag or to put ourselves out there to gain praise from others. A sin he called it."

"Well I think he's an idiot!" Buck said crossing his arms, "You're pretty smart, and without your idea we would've had sore backs from sleeping on the floor."

The others nodded.

Josiah smiled and went back to eating his corn.

"But seriously, is there anything else here to eat besides corn?" asked Buck again.

"Only way to find out is to look." said Vin, tossing his finished corn away.

"We'll head further up the beach, but not to the fence. We'll go around it and see if we find anything." Chris then turned to Buck, "You said that they mentioned someone else was out there, right?"

Buck nodded.

"Maybe there's another farm nearby."

"Chris I forgot to mention something else I saw last night."

Everyone quieted down to let Buck speak.

"There were explosives in that cellar. Enough to level a forest."

It turned dead silent as they looked at each other, concern on everyone's face.

"Should we move?" asked JD.

"To where? We don't know who this other guy is, and if they do decide to use the explosives then we don't want to be moving near 'em." Vin pointed out.

"But how long do you think we can remain here without being discovered, Mr Tanner?"

"It's Vin! Why don't ya ever call us by our first names?"

"I was brought up to address people formally."

"Adults, you're supposed to address adults formally, not kids your age and younger! Hell I forget you're talking to me sometimes when ya say my last name."

"Vin, you can't change how people were brought up." said Buck.

Vin sighed and let it drop.

"We're allowed to change how we were brought up though right?" asked JD.

"I guess, yeah. Why?"

"I want to be like Tarzan."

"What?"

"You know, dress like him and swing from tree to tree on vines and talk to animals."

Ezra laughed, "You want to run around in your underwear and act like a wildman?"

"Yeah!"

"Well sorry if we don't all join you in your fantasy world."

JD slumped.

"Well I don't think it's half bad." said Buck, "It's really hot out and you're wearing some heavy clothes there Ez. Why not take off a couple of layers?"

"Cause I don't want to get them dirty."

"Good luck with that in a jungle."

Buck pulled off his shirt and used Chris's pocket knife to cut his pants legs till they were shorts. Vin grinned and did the same. One by one they all shed their layers till they were only wearing shorts until it was only Ezra still wearing his clothes.

"Good lord, ya'll insane."

"Come on Ez. Ya have to be hot in those clothes."

Ezra gave a sigh and slowly pulled off his coat jacket and then his tie and button up shirt. He didn't cut his pants, but just rolled them up past the knees.

Folding his clothes that he removed, he set them on a boulder. The others did the same.

"See don't that feel better?" grinned Buck.

"Oh yeah, so the mosquitos can get to my blood better. It's wonderful."

Buck picked up Ezra and lifted him over his shoulder.

"You need to cool down a little, Ezra."

With that he ran to the spring and tossed the younger boy in.

They all laughed as Ezra splashed around trying to get back to shore.

"Not funny, Buck, I can't swim."

The others looked at each other at Ezra's slip of formality.

Ezra continued to splash around in an awkward attempt to swim.

"You don't need to. You can touch the bottom."

Ezra stopped flailing and tried to touch, but his head went under. When he resurfaced he was gasping for air.

Chris went in after him and pulled him to where his feet could touch.

"Sorry pard, I forgot you were so short." chuckled Buck.

Ezra glared at him and splashed water in his direction.

"Hey what's that for?" grinned Vin who was standing next to Buck and had also gotten wet.

Vin and Buck ran into the water followed by JD, Josiah and Nathan.

They splashed each other and the older boys threw the younger ones.

Ezra kept to his shallow end with JD who also couldn't swim.

Buck would bring JD out ever so often and let him hold onto him in the deeper end. Josiah asked if Ezra wanted to as well but he declined the offer.

"What's wrong, Ezra?"

"We spoiled our clean water source."

Josiah laughed, "Yeah, but I think it will be clean since the water continues to move."

"Sorry if I don't have as much faith as you, Mr Sanchez."

"Well I don't care if you believe in the same things I do, but I do hope you believe in Chris."

"What do you mean?"

"He's doing his best to make sure we stay together."

"Yeah." Ezra replied, thinking about what Chris had done for him and grinned, "He's a fearless leader."

"That he is."

Like every good thing, the fun ended after someone got hurt. Vin dived in a shallow area and hit his head on a rock leaving him with a cut on his head.

"I do believe that was the straw that broke the camel's back, Mr Sanchez. I can't go back to drinking from the spring knowing that I could possibly be drinking Mr Tanner's blood and I'm not going to mention that I think one of the others relieved themselves in there."

Josiah laughed, "Ok Ezra, no one is going to force you to."

"How's the head, Vin?" asked Chris, sitting next the injured boy.

"It's alright." he winced at Nathan's touch as the boy wrapped strips of clothes around his head.

"Are you sure that is sanitary?" Ezra scrunched his nose.

"Yes, I wet it and had it in a fire to clean the bandages."

Nathan tied the last knot and Vin tested it out to make sure it wouldn't slip, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Why don't we explore the area around us?" Suggested Buck.

"I'm so tired I can barely stand." mumbled JD.

"I was thinking we could try swinging from the vines."

"Yeah, how about you go first and if you don't come falling down twenty feet then we'll join you." snorted Ezra.

"I will then."

Buck ran to their tree and threw himself up the vine and began climbing. The others watched from their seats and waited as he stood on their branch looking down at them.

Buck saw a vine a couple feet away and then another before reaching another tree.

Looking down and seeing how far up he was, he was about to change his mind.

"I'll go with you." said Chris who was standing behind him.

"I got this, old dog." Buck flashed a grin before gathering all his courage and throwing himself towards the vine.

There were several ways things could've went wrong; he could've missed the vine and fell. He could've grabbed the vine but his weight and momentum could've snapped the vine and he'd fall, or he didn't grab the vine and fall.

Everyone below and Chris on the branch held their breath as Buck's hands clasped around the vine without it break and he swung till he reached out with one hand and grabbed the next vine and swung to that one and slammed right into the branch he was trying to reach.

The boys all cringed in pain as Buck clammered onto the branch and stand to look down at them and give them all a thumbs up.

"You're crazy, Buck. Only you'd try to attempt something like that and walk away from getting hit with a grin." Nathan shook his head.

"Come on up." he waved.

The others watched as Chris jumped and swung the two vines before reaching Buck's branch with a little more grace.

"I wanna try!" said Vin eagerly running to catch up. The others followed him.

Only Vin seemed to have the natural ability to swing from tree to tree without looking like a hot mess.

They all laughed at one another.

"This is pretty fun, but what if we don't have a vine to swing to the next tree."

They were all stopped on one branch with the next tree branch four feet away.

"We jump." Buck yelled as he leaped. The others yelled after him.

He was able to reach the other branch but slipped on the moss that grew on it. The branch grew in a twisted way and Buck started to glide along it until he reached the end and had to grab a vine from falling twenty feet. He swung till he reached another vine and then swung to another branch far away.

"Did you guys see that?" he cried.

The others were too busy whooping and hollering to hear him.

"I want to do that." JD bounced up and down.

"Can I try?" asked Vin.

Before anyone could stop him he jumped and was on his way to Buck. Josiah carried JD and jumped and were followed by Nathan. Chris looked at Ezra who was standing far back.

"You coming?"

"I don't feel like dying today."

"What, afraid you can't make the jump?"

"Something like that."

Chris shrugged and jumped. He kept himself from sliding down the branch to wait for the other boy.

Ezra looked warily at the ground that was so far away now.

Taking a deep breath he jumped but he didn't make it. Chris grabbed the other boy's hand and held onto the branch with his other.

He a pop and he groaned. Screaming, he pulled Ezra up until he could grab hold of the branch with his other arm.

Ezra cradled his left arm and looked over the edge.

"You okay?" asked Chris moving his arm to get it working again.

"Yeah, I think I hurt my arm, but it's a whole lot better than the alternative."

Chris stood up and Ezra did the same. They moved along the branch and eventually came to the part where the had to jump again.

Ezra groaned.

"Do you think you can hold onto me if I jump?"

"That's just humiliating."

"Do you want to try by yourself then?"

Chris asked arching an eyebrow.

The others watched as Chris and Ezra swung in together.

"What happened?" asked Nathan trying to check Ezra then Chris.

"I just injured my arm a little."

"That doesn't look like a little."

"I'll be fine." Ezra insisted.

"Let me see."

"I said I'm fine!"

Nathan backed off and waited till Ezra had turned away before pulling Ezra's shoulder and a loud pop was heard.

Ezra gasped and turned ready to hit Nathan when he felt that his arm was feeling better.

"You're welcome." Nathan smiled before walking off.

"Everyone be quiet." hissed Vin.

They all crouched and listened. There were voices down below of people arguing.

Five men who were armed were trudging through the jungle heading away from the fence.

"That must be Conklin's men." whispered Chris.

"We should follow them and see where they're headed." said Vin.

The boys got up and began slowly to walk along the branches above them.

The men would stop and look around making the boys stop and duck, but the men never looked up.

"This is so cool. I feel like we're spies." giggled JD.

The five men stopped at the edge of a clearing and huddled together.

Vin climbed up the tree to a higher branch to get a better view.

"Careful." whispered Nathan.

"What do you see, Vin?" asked Buck.

"Another fence up ahead. A small one. There's something behind them that's movin' around. A lot of them too."

"Are they people?"

"Don't look like it."

"Then what does it look like, Tanner."

"Some kinda animal. I don't know."

"Something is happening below." hissed Nathan.

The men began looking through their bags and pulled a couple of things out.

"Crap that's the dynamite." whispered Buck.

"What should we do?" asked JD.

"We can't get out of here quick enough."

"Josiah, get the others far away as quick as possible."

Before anyone could act one of the men below threw a stick of dynamite and it exploded. The explosion rocked the ground and Chris lost his footing on the slippery branch and fell.

It felt like he was falling in slow motion as he watched his friends try to grab him.

He reached his hand out for them, but it was no use.

 **A/N: A gift for millie2077. I love reading everyone's comments and like to reply by considering what readers want to be in the story and writing it. If you guys want a certain character to have an adventure then by all means I'll write it. Keep the comments coming.**

 **To be continued shortly**


	6. Chapter 6

Chris laid there dazed on the ground. The impact was softened by landing on some of the foliage below, but his body still hurt all over.

He could see the others looking down at him and he gave them the slightest wave to hide before he dropped his arm down and just lay there injured.

He was well aware that he needed to move because the five men were really close by, but he didn't have the energy and he was sure he broken something.

The explosions continued, but one of the men started walking over to where he was. The man held his gun up preparing to shoot.

Chris wanted to say something, but he just laid there.

Another man appeared next to the one now standing over him, guns pointing down at him.

"Where did he come from?" asked one of the men looking around.

"He looks like he's been injured."

Chris took a quick look up in the tree where the others were and was glad to see that their heads had disappeared from over the edge.

One of the men looked up.

"You don't suppose he fell from a tree."

"He be dead if he did."

"Hey what are you guys doing? We have a job to complete here." A heavy set man now approached the small group.

"We found this wild looking boy lying here."

"He might be the one causing trouble."

"Marcus, you don't need to be acting like its one of us. This here is no different from a savage. Pick it up, we'll take it back to Conklin."

Two of the men picked Chris up roughly and began to drag him along the ground. The movement hurt terribly but Chris never uttered a word.

His face was tight from trying to keep the screams of pain in that he accidently let out a groan when they just dropped him on his back.

Chris never went down without a fight, but he did. He fell down and now he was too injured to even move his arm. His head hurt too much to even turn and see what was around him that he could try and use as a weapon.

He never thought this was how he would go out. Now that he had so many friends he had planned to grow up and be a better adult than any of the ones that he had the misfortune of meeting.

The only adult to ever show him kindness was Buck's mother who even trusted him enough to allow her son to travel with him. Now they were stuck in a place with men who had guns and explosives and he was dying.

"I don't see the point in keeping him alive. We can just shoot him and take the body with us. That way we can finish up here without worrying about him running off."

"Its a savage. Stop acting like its one of us."

"He don't look like one."

Chris listened to them go on about his appearance while he tried to think of something to do to get him out of this mess.

If he was going to die. It sure as hell wasn't going to be by getting shot several times.

He just wished that the others weren't going to try anything to come and save him.

Even if they succeeded, he was sure he was dying from the fall he took.

No, any attempt at saving him would be unadvised.

Closing his eyes, he waited for whatever his fate might be.

"Let's just shoot it. I don't care what Victor says. He ain't the one dragging it around."

Chris's heart was beating fast as he figured that whomever was speaking was about to shoot him.

*bang bang*

Chris flinched and then nothing.

He was sure he was supposed to have felt some kind of sharp pain, but he didn't.

Opening his eyes, he saw the two men that had been standing over him now lying on the ground. Their eyes staring at him.

If he could, Chris would have moved away from the dead bodies.

A sound of a snapping branch near by made Chris jerk his head to the side and he instantly regretted it when his head started hurting again and he started seeing spots in his vision.

He was however now able to see a group of men walking towards him. The man in front of the group was holding a rifle and looked like he was in charge.

Chris lost the fight to keep his eyes open and fell asleep.

It all happened so fast yet it looked like he was falling in slow motion.

Ezra cursed himself for not doing anything since he was the closest to Chris when the explosion happened.

He tried to reach out and to grab him but he merely brushed the other boy's fingertips.

Vin sat in silent tears, curled up in a ball looking down.

JD was still in shock to understand what he was seeing.

Buck wanted to climb down, but Josiah and Nathan kept him from doing so.

They could only watch as Chris waved to them and then do nothing but hide when the men surrounded their fallen leader.

"Is he dead?" asked JD.

"He can't be, he just can't. Can he?" Vin whispered. He looked at Nathan for hope but the other boy didn't give any.

"I'm not sure who could survive a twenty foot drop like that Vin. I just don't know."

"Don't say that! He's alive, he has to be!" turning to Ezra he yelled, "Why didn't you help him. You were the closest."

"I'm sorry I froze."

"You froze? He could be dead and your excuse is that you froze!"

Everyone watched the confrontation between the two in silence.

"So the fact that he's saved you twice doesn't mean a thing to you?"

"I'm not the heartless piece of shit you guys all think I am. Yeah I wanted to help. I'd sacrifice myself in order to save him, but..."

Ezra's head dropped to his chest and a tear rolled down his cheek, "I was scared. Nearly falling off a tree just ten minutes ago and almost drowning in the ocean. Slowly going down. Reaching and hoping someone will find my hand."

"He dislocated his arm earlier, Vin. He was probably too scared of injuring again that he froze up. It happens."

Vin nodded, "Sorry Ez, it weren't your fault."

"What do we do now?" asked JD.

They all looked to their eldest.

Josiah let out a sigh. He really didn't want to be the one to make hard decisions.

"We really need Chris right now." he said under his breath.

Chris tried to move his arm to reach for Ezra's hand to keep from falling, but his hand barely moved an inch before something stopped it from going further.

He opened his eyes and saw a boy studying him closely.

Chris dismissed him and looked at his wrist to see that they were bound to the side of the bed.

"What kinda savage are ya supposed to be?" asked the boy.

Chris returned his attention on the boy and gave him a death glare making the boy take a few steps back.

"Ya some kinda of cannibal?"

Chris just smiled, letting the boy get uncomfortable.

"Stuart, get away from 'em."

The boy, Chris now knew whose name was Stuart, stepped away from the bed and stood by the man Chris recalled holding a rifle.

He was old and had a gray goatee that was neatly combed. He was dressed in a fine suit and held a curious look in his eyes as if he was trying to figure Chris out.

"Can ya speak?"

Chris figured it was better not and pretend he didn't. He glared at the man defiantly.

"Well I don't particularly care if ya can speak or not. If ya decide to get smart and started to talk then I'll just have to kill ya. I don't know who ya are but as far as I know you're an enemy of Conklin. So if ya want to keep getting medical help for them injures ya have there then you're going to need to offer me something in return. Ya understand?"

Chris held his glare.

He needed to get out of here and back to the others, but it didn't seem like it was going to be an easy task. Waiting for his injuries to heal would take too long and the others probably all thought he was dead. They'd probably would move somewhere else and he wouldn't see them again.

Thankfully the man left the room with the boy letting Chris be by himself.

As soon as the door was closed Chris let the tears fall. The tears ran down into his ears since his hands were tied and he couldn't wipe them away.

"Get yourself together, Larabee, you need to get out of here."

Tugging on his bound right wrist, he started to loosen the knot.

The door reopened and the boy Stuart walked back in and stood next to the bed staring down at him.

Chris glared up at the boy, but this time Stuart didn't back away.

"So you eat people, or do you eat bugs?"

Chris couldn't believe how stupid this boy was.

Rolling his eyes, he turned his head away from the kid and closed his eyes pretending to sleep.

"I didn't tell ya you're allowed to sleep." said Stuart poking Chris's side with his finger.

Chris reached up and grabbed the boy by the shirt pulling him down towards him. The rope bondage was loose enough for Chris to actually reach for the kid's neck but he didn't.

"Touch me again and I'll fucking kill you you piece of shit." Chris said in a low voice before letting go and closing his eyes again.

The other boy ran from the room as fast as he could, slamming the door after him.

Chris knew it was over if the kid got smart and told the old guy that he said something. It was now or never. He had to leave.

Using his teeth, he pulled the knot loose and then undid the left one. His body was sore and bandaged up till he looked like a mummy, but Chris ignored the pain and sat up. He let out a low moan as he tried standing and it took him a minute before Chris could pull himself up.

As soon as he stood he was down again. The impact of collapsing probably aggravated many of his wounds and he hissed as he used the bed to get himself up again.

This time he was more successful and he stood for a few seconds to catch his breath. Time was of the essence so he couldn't stand there and rest for long.

Moving to the window he found the latch that kept it closed and opened it. He pulled the window up and pulled a face as he felt the sharp pain from his arms telling him to stop.

Ignoring them, he practically crawled out the window and let himself fall to the ground. Chris let out a gasp in pain and rolled a couple of times before trying to stand up. This time he didn't use his hands to help him up, but relied on his legs. He dropped to one knee on his first attempt, but got up on the second.

He staggered as he struggled to walk straight. Not knowing where to go made things difficult and he spun around to get a bearing on his surroundings.

Some people watched him stumble about from a distance. A few men stood back with their guns ready to shoot if necessary.

Chris thought that all thought he was some crazy savage trying to make a pathetic escape.

The way he was moving, he wouldn't get far. They were probably waiting for him to go farther before shooting him.

He kept shuffling to a fence that he saw in the distance.

A shot went off and Chris stopped.

The old man was holding his rifle again but was holding it at Chris.

He strode up to Chris till he was two feet away, his gun still aimed at him.

"Ya wouldn't be stupid enough to try and escape now would ya?"

"Figured I'd be on my way."

"So you can talk."

Chris could've handled the situation without speaking and he wanted to curse himself for his own stupidity.

"Tell me who ya are and I won't shoot ya."

Chris just stood there.

After a minute the man gave a sigh and held up his rifle.

"Well I guess it don't matter really if I kill ya or not."

"Wait!"

Stuart ran up to stand between the man and Chris.

Chris rose an eyebrow in surprise.

This kid really was stupid if he's protecting the person who threatened to kill him minutes ago.

"Don't shoot 'em."

"Get out of the way, Stuart."

"We can use 'em to get inside Conklin's place. If he's done it before he can do it again."

Stuart looked over his shoulder at Chris who just stared at him.

"He can find their weak spot and we can take over their land like you've been tryin' to do for years."

The man let his rifle rest on his shoulder as he thought over the boy's proposition.

Chris was amazed. The man must be equally stupid if he was listening to a kid's idea. A stupid one at that.

"What if he tries to run?"

Chris looked at the boy and waited for his response.

"Then you can shoot me."

"What?" asked the man.

Chris would've said the same thing. This kid couldn't be anymore stupid if he tried.

"Trust me, he'll do it."

The man looked as if he was actually considering the proposal.

"Okay."

"No." said Chris. He refused to be placed in that kind of situation.

"Excuse me, I don't think I gave ya a choice." To Stuart he said, "I hope your faith in him isn't unfounded."

The man walked away and two others came and took Chris back to his room.

At least this time Chris was able to see where he was a little.

Stuart sat down on a stool next to the bed.

"You some kinda stupid, or do you just have a death wish."

"I know you'll do it."

"How's that?"

"Cause ya don't want a death hanging over your head."

Chris frowned.

"I mean you can go and escape instead of doing your job. It ain't you who'd be killed after all. It's only a feeling that you'd do it if there's somebody's life in stake."

"And would this man really kill you?"

"My father? Hell yeah he would. He takes everything serious. Especially if it has to do with Conklin."

"Who's Conklin?"

"The man who owns the corn plant over yonder. That land belongs to my family, but Conklin and his men have built this wall you see and have dynamite hidden in the ground around it waiting to be set off if they see any of us come near 'em."

"So this is all about land."

"Do you know what we could do with that land? Our family raises cattle. If we could get that land back then we can expand without fear of our merchandise exploding."

"What if I don't to go and just sit here?"

"Then my father will just shoot me then he'll shoot ya."

"What a loving father."

"He believes in hard work and being a man of his word. He expects all his men to be likewise."

"And he expects a kid like you to as well I suppose."

"Hardly a kid. I'm nineteen."

Chris wanted to do something to get away from this kid. He felt himself getting dumber by minute.

"I want to sleep. Leave."

Stuart got up walked to the door. He smiled before leaving and slammed the door unnecessarily.

After waiting for a few minutes to make sure he was actually gone, Chris got out of bed and walked to the window.

He was sure a day had passed. A day without the others. Not knowing where they were and if they were okay or not.

Chris slammed his fist against the wall and let his head drop. He used both hands to hold him up and balled them to a fist in frustration.

If they wanted him to get rid of Conklin then he'd do it as fast as he could so he could be free. Looking out the window a thought came to him.

If he did do it and succeed, would they release him?

He'd forgotten to argue his release.

That earned another curse under his breath.

He didn't want to be the reason for someone's death and he wasn't thinking about Stuart's. If he went through with this then this Conklin guy was probably going to get killed.

He tried telling himself that Conklin had others kill people in his name and almost had him killed, but still was that a good enough reason?

Standing up straight, Chris walked to the door. There were two men standing outside and they stopped him from going further.

"I wanna talk to the old man."

One of the men looked to his partner who nodded and they walked him down the hallway and into a big office.

The old man was talking to another old guy who was dressed even nicer than the first.

He said a few more words before giving Chris a smile before walking out the room.

Chris looked disgusted as he watched the man leave.

"What do ya want?" asked the old man.

Chris returned his gaze back to him, "If I do what you want do I go free?"

"Of course."

Chris frowned. His answer wasn't good enough, "Do I have your word?"

"Yes."

Something didn't sit right with Chris, but that usually happened when he was talking to an adult.

"So can I go now?"

"No, we'll wait a couple of days. He might be expecting an attack."

"A couple of days, but-" Chris stopped himself. He didn't want to say anything that would put the others in danger.

But a couple of days. He didn't want to wait that long.

Chris tried to think of an idea.

"I can get in without them noticing. I know where they hide their explosives."

"Ya do?"

Chris swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded.

"I'll allow you to go tomorrow at night. You go in and set off their dynamite under all their buildings."

"I thought you just wanted me to find their weakness?"

"And now that I know it, I want you to set it off right under them."

"But that would kill people."

The old man stood up, towering over Chris.

"They killed my brother and stole our land. They can burn in hell for all I care, and you're going to do it. I don't want to have to kill my nephew."

"What sick twisted man would kill their family member?"

"He gave his word that he would offer his life if you screw up. Nothing is stronger than a man's word."

"Then you have my word that I will have those people's death on your shoulders and not mine." snarled Chris before walking out the office and back to his room.

At dinner they served him a plate of beans and a piece of beef which he wanted to eat so much, but couldn't bring himself to knowing his friends were just eating corn.

He prayed that none of them were stupid enough to go back over to Conklin's farm for more food.

He especially prayed that none of them were there when he set off the explosives.

Instead of sleeping, Chris spent the whole night chipping off pieces of wood from the furniture with his pocket knife and made arrowheads. He cut longer pieces off the bed frame to make long sticks. Using the rope he was tied with, he untwisted the rope and cut it into smaller strips to tie the arrowheads to the sticks.

It took several attempts before he got one that actually worked.

Chris had about six arrows before he tired himself out and stuck them under the bed and went to sleep.

He still struggled without the comforting sound of Buck's snoring and Vin's pointy elbow sticking him in the ribs when he kept moving around.

He even missed Ezra's sleep talk and JD's sniffles. This made him laugh and he closed his eyes. No matter what, he would find his way back to the others. Even if it meant he had to use force. Nobody's death would be on him. Not Stuart. Not Conklin or his men.


	7. Chapter 7

Stuart's father spent the afternoon going over what Chris was supposed to do and that his men would be on standby if he failed and they had to go in and do it themselves.

"And to make sure you don't fail, you'll take Stuart with you and he'll wait for you to return to him and my men. If you fail their orders will be to shoot him."

"What? That wasn't apart of the plan."

"If you fail, they will shoot him." the old man repeated.

Chris frowned. He'd probably have wrinkles when he got older he'd been frowning so much lately.

"You leave when the sun starts to go down pass that hill." he pointed to the hill nearby. That is in like two hours."

"And I'll be free after I do this." Chris asked for clarification.

"Yes."

Dismissed from the room, Chris walked around outside. He was still under the careful watch of several men just in case he decided to run.

Stuart was outside sitting on a fence fiddling with something in his hand.

Stepping closer, Chris saw that it was a gun.

"Who do you plan on using that on?"

"Depends on the outcome of your job tonight. It may be used to kill me or you."

"Good to know."

"I heard that I was going with ya tonight."

Chris didn't say anything.

"I have big plans for my life. I plan to quit this place and go on to North America in a couple of years. My little nephew, my older brother's son Lucas who is eleven, I plan on taking him with me to get out of this hell hole."

That caught Chris's attention, "Where are we now exactly?"

"You don't know? We're in South America. About a week's journey from the Panama Canal."

"Is that like a city in North America?"

"It's a canal. Don't ya know what a canal is?"

"Hell if you think I'm going to listen to anything you say. You must an idiot. Like you'd know what a canal is."

"I do and I can prove it."

Chris rolled his eyes. He didn't want this to have to be something that he had to prove. Now he was stuck listening to this boy as they walked back into the house and in a small room they used as a library.

Stuart pulled a book out and flipped a few pages until he found what he was looking for.

"See here. This is a canal."

He pointed to a picture between two pieces of land.

"What's this?" asked Chris.

"This here is South America." pointing to a place near the edge towards the middle, "This is where we are now."

Chris studied the map.

"And you say it takes a week to reach this Canal?"

"By horse, yes. Longer if you walk there of course."

A knock came at the door and the boys turned around.

"It's time."

Stuart walked out first and Chris walked out after him after he tore the map from the book and stuffed it into his pocket.

While Stuart went directly outside, Chris made a slight detour.

He went back to his room and reached under his bed to get his things. Chris wasn't sure if he was going to use them or not, but it was better to have them then to not and need it later.

Stuart's father was waiting outside for them with some of his men.

"Ready?"

Chris nodded and began to walk to the gate on the other side of the James property.

The men and Stuart followed him from behind. Once outside and in the jungle, Chris

detached himself from the others and started to climb a tree.

The others watched in amazement at how fast he was going.

"He's like a squirrel." murmured one of the men.

Chris reached the branch and slung himself onto it. Looking below, he saw the men point in the direction he was to go with Stuart at gunpoint.

Taking a deep breath, Chris crawled along the branch and up the tree. He would swing from vines and glide on the mossy surface of branches while everyone below would run to keep up.

He could feel his heart beating fast as he kept his eyes trained on the limb he was walking along. His heart would skip when he leapt to catch a vine and swing twenty feet over the ground.

The Conklin fence was just up ahead with thirty yards of clear area.

There was only a few trees near the sid of the fence they were at. If he wanted to get closer, he would have to travel south-east to where his friends were to get to a place where they had trees closer to the fence.

Swinging down to the ground he went to tell the others his plan.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm going to head down a little further to climb the fence. You can wait here."

The men looked at each other before one spoke, "We''ll go with you till you climb over."

Chris sighed but nodded.

Going around took another twenty minutes before they reached the tree line before the fence.

Chris nodded to Stuart who nodded back and he began his solo mission.

Getting over the fence was easy. The hard part was what to do once he was over.

He'd been debating what to do on the way over, but now time was up and he had to decide.

Killing people was definitely not going to happen, but he could make it look like he'd blown it up.

He also had to get Stuart away from those men with guns if everything went south.

From Buck's description the explosives were in a cellar beside the main house.

It was pretty dark already, but Chris was able to find the cellar door.

It was locked of course with a couple chains going across.

"And Buck was able to get into this?" said Chris underhis breath.

He didn't have anything to open it up so he had to improvise.

The door had old hinges that would be easy to break with a little force.

Chris was never proud of his reputation for breaking and entering, but now it was going to prove a useful skill.

Getting a good grip on the wood around the hinge. Chris pulled with all his might.

He could feel little splinters digging into his skin but he kept pulling till he heard the slight snap. Encouraged Chris reset his feet and bent his knees and pulled again.

The hinge broke and Chris was able to lift the door up.

Moving the door all the way open, he went down into the dark.

It was dark inside and he slipped down the stairs a bit before he was able to catch himself again.

Feeling around he found the boxes with the dynamite. He grabbed a handful and started back upstairs.

Chris lost count of how many trips he made back and forth, but when he was done all the dynamite was out of the cellar and placed around all the buildings.

"Okay, please let this work." prayed Chris.

Chris fished into his pocket and then realised that he didn't have anything to set off the dynamite.

"Shit." he cursed.

"Mr Larabee?" whispered a voice in the dark making Chris spin around and point his makeshift spear where he heard the voice come from until it registered that he knew that voice anywhere.

"Ezra, what the hell are you doing here?"

Chris felt the other boy hug him. It threw him off.

"I thought. We all thought you died." came a muffled voice.

"Then why are you here?"

"To avenge you of course. The others have basically shunned me for what happened."

"You should get out of here."

"Not without you. If you come back then they won't hate me-"

"Well I can't leave until I finish this job."

"What job? For who?"

"It's a long story, but for now. I just have to set these explosives off for some people."

"What black-hearted person has you doing this?"

"I told you it's a long story. Do you have your lighter?"

"Of course. I was here to set the explosives off myself."

"Give it here."

Ezra handed the lighter over to Chris.

"Okay, I need you to get out of here."

"I'll go, but you have to promise me you'll come over to that spot over there."

Ezra pointed to a tree on the opposite side of the corn field.

Chris nodded.

Ezra began to make his way over himself when he heard Chris whisper his name.

"Take this with you in case something happens to me."

Chris handed the torn page to Ezra who took it and put it into his pocket.

"You'll be right behind me though, right?"

"Yes."

Ezra nodded and ran.

Chris took a deep breath to try and prepare himself.

He had to be quick or else he'd die all over again.

Flicking the lighter on, Chris sucked in his breath and began setting the igniter on the dynamite.

He would run a few feet and set another before sprinting far away as the dynamite went off making the others buried around them go off too like dominos. Chris stood near the fields for cover as he watched to make sure that they were all going off.

He could hear the people yelling and trying to get out the house.

Chris caught a glimpse of a man who was looking at him before he ran to the fence. He could hear gunshots being fired but he kept going.

A bullet dug into his shoulder and he stumbled a bit before picking up speed again.

Climbing the fence took a lot of effort with an injured shoulder but the drive to keep his promise to Ezra and to get back to Stuart before he was killed kept him going.

He was exhausted when he reached Ezra by the tree.

"Are you alright Mr Larabee?"

"I'm fine. Go on and get back to the others."

"What about you? You look horrible, Nathan can fix you up. Come on." he began pulling Chris's hand.

"I got something to do. You go on ahead."

"But..." Ezra sighed, "Do you need any assistance?"

"I'll be okay, go on."

The younger boy went off and disappeared into the darkness.

Chris went back to where the men and Stuart were waiting for him.

The men were arguing with each other, trying to figure out what to do.

"He didn't follow the plan."

"But he did set off the dynamite."

"Do we still kill Stuart?"

"I don't know. I thought it was all to get that kid to do what he was told."

"That was the plan you idiots." said Stuart. "I knew he would do anything we wanted if there was a life at stake."

Chris swore under his breath for letting himself being used.

"Well we can cut our losses with him and go home. At least we destroyed their place so they'll have to leave and we can take their land."

Chris listened as they began walking away.

He waited till Stuart was a few feet away from the rest of his group and snatched him.

His hand covered the other boy's mouth to keep him from talking and getting the older men's attention.

Stuart spun around and pulled out his gun.

Chris backed away.

"So ya made it out alive. I'm surprised. You're not as bad as I thought ya were. I didn't give ya enough credit."

"You used me."

"Duh." he laughed and waved his gun about, "This surprises ya? You're so transparent. I can tell what kind of person ya are just by lookin' at ya."

Chris lunged forward catching Stuart off guard and grabbed him by the shirt, "People could've died."

"It wouldn't have been me who did it. It would all have been you."

Stuart gave a devious grin which made Chris fume.

Hiking his leg up as high as he could, he brought it down with as much force as he could muster on the boy's shin.

Stuart screamed bloody murder, dropping his gun. Chris spat at the boy before running off.

A shot was fired and Chris ducked and turned around.

He saw Stuart had picked up his gun again and that he was staring at the end of the barrel now.

"I should've let my pa kill ya a long time ago." he snarled.

Chris froze in place. He wondered if he could dive out of the way fast enough if Stuart was to shoot him, and right now, it looked like it was a definite possibility.

Suddenly a rock came flying and slammed right into the side of Stuart's head making him fall back down grabbing his head in pain.

Chris looked into the darkness and saw Ezra running off.

"That son of a gun." whispered Chris as he ran himself.

When he was far enough away he climbed a tree and waited a while to catch his breath before continuing on.

He heard the men from far off but it didn't sound like they were chasing him.

Stuart would probably not completely heal from that injury since there weren't any doctors around to reset it properly. He would probably walk with a limp for the rest of his life.

Part of him wanted to feel bad, but it was all done away with the fact that he'd been betrayed by someone who he thought was in trouble, but was in fact the ring leader.

An exhausted Chris staggered into the small clearing where his friends were all huddled by the spring.

Vin and Buck threw their arms around him even though he grunted in pain from his shoulder wound.

"Ez said he saw you and that you were alive. Why didn't you come back sooner?" asked Buck pulling away to look at his friend.

"I'm so sorry we didn't come looking for ya." said Vin crying.

Nathan and Josiah stood a little ways behind the others.

"We're glad you're back." smiled Nathan.

"I am especially grateful. You make being in charge look easy. I could never take your place." said Josiah.

JD was next to give Chris a hug, "I'm glad you're ok, Chris."

Chris smiled at each of the other boys, but then he noticed that Ezra was sitting a bit of a ways away from the rest of the group.

"Come here." grinned Chris.

Ezra looked up, uncertain at first before standing up and walking over to the rest of the group.

Chris brought him in a big hug and the others made it a group hug.

"Okay." he said after a while, "You're hurting me."

The boys broke apart and were all smiling.

"We're all back together again." stated JD.

"As it should be." Buck nodded.

"Ezra, do you still have what I gave you?"

"Yes sir." Ezra gave a two finger salute with a little grin.

Chris thanked him as he was handed the small piece of paper and in return he gave Ezra his lighter back.

"What's that?" They all asked curiously.

"A gift for a favor."

"Huh?" asked JD puzzled.

Chris decided though still in pain to tell the others what happened to him after those five men from Conklin's took him. How Mr James saved him to only force him into trying to make him get rid of Conklin and his men.

"It ended up being his son, Stuart who manipulated me into going through with it. He's the one who showed me this map there and where we are. I tore it out of the book. Didn't know until after I blew up the area around that place before I knew that Stuart had set me up."

"You were shot too, Mr Larabee." added Ezra.

"What? Let me see."

Nathan took a look at Chris's shoulder which was wet with blood.

"How did you get out of there and make it back to us with a bullet in you?"

"The need to get back to you guys kept me going I guess."

"Well I'll patch you up with what we got. I found some herbs the other day that could be used for healing."

Chris thanked Nathan as he the other boy began cleaning his wound.

"This here map can get us to North America." he showed the others his piece of paper.

"Well this looks easy." said JD after looking at the map, "All we need to do is cross a few rivers and we're there. Probably take us two days."

"JD, maps make land a whole lot smaller than what it really is. It will take us at least a month to get there, and those little rivers are actually huge."

"Well that makes no sense. Why would anyone make things smaller than what they're supposed to be?"

"Why not save that question for the next adult you talk to." chuckled Ezra but then frowned, "Hold on. How did we end up in South America. We were heading west!"

Everyone looked at Vin who looked at the ground.

"Do you have something to share, Mr Tanner?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Ezra!" Vin yelled, now glaring at the other boy.

"Vin, you were the one telling us which way west was. Could you've been wrong?" asked Chris.

Vin looked up with pleading eyes not to have to explain himself, but saw that he wasn't going to be able to get out of it.

"I can't tell my right from my left, or which way north is to west or south from east."

"No wonder. south and north are opposites and east is opposite of west. What, do you believe north is up and south is down?" frowned Ezra.

Vin looked away ashamed.

They all sighed except for JD who tried to cheer the other boy up.

"It's ok Vin. I can't tell the difference myself and I'm only beginning to learn how to read and write."

"You can't read and write either?"

"But I saw you reading on the boat." recalled Chris.

"I was looking at the pictures." Vin mumbled.

"Great now were lost."moaned Ezra.

"Ez, since you seem so concerned about Vin not knowing how to read and write then perhaps you could teach him." suggested Nathan.

"What?" said both Vin and Ezra in unison.

"That's a good idea, Nate." smiled Josiah.

Chris nodded his agreement.

"I don't want to." Ezra crossed his arms over his chest, "Just the other day he was blaming me for having killed you and now I have to help him."

"You just went off on Vin for taking us out of our way. I think you're both even." reminded Josiah.

"Does this mean I get out of doing menial labor?"

"No." said Nathan, Josiah and Chris together.

"Oh the cruelty of teenagers."

"I think Chris's return deserves a celebration. We should eat some jam!"

The other boys, but mostly Vin, cheered.

Chris smiled. Yes it was good to be back.

 **A/N: So information that I kinda left out and want to clear up. I made Stuart James, Lucas James' uncle, a kid as welland mentioned briefly Lucas. I had Chris be the one to give Stuart his limp (and that's how he ended up walking with a cane). Sorry for any grammatical errors and mispells on any of my chapters. I haven't been able to give them a look over before posting and I found a couple things wrong in my last chapter. Also I just now looked at a map and saw that the boys had to go pretty way off course to reach South America from England. Yeah...apologies to Vin cause I put the blame on him. Sorry.**

 **Love your comments, keep them coming. What adventure should they all go on next now that they know where they should be headed.**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: There is a jump in time, but not a lot.

"No, I won't do it. I have a right to do what I want and I say no!" Vin crossed his arms and made a pouting face.

"Vin, look at you. You haven't cleaned yourself in God knows how long. Your hair is clumping together and forming into dreads and you smell horrible. For the sake of our noses, clean yourself!" yelled Ezra.

It had been a week since Chris's return and since they had started their journey north to the Panama Canal. When they weren't walking, Ezra would teach Vin and JD how to read and write. Nathan would study plants and try to collect those that could be used for medicine while Josiah carved himself a spear with Chris's knife. Buck would play with JD when he wasn't being taught and the two would carry on for hours. Chris usually would sit and watch the others while keeping an eye out for any trouble. So far nothing had happened since the Conklin- James problem.

Chris still wasn't up to be climbing trees yet and Nathan wouldn't allow him to so they were all making their journey on the ground which was more dangerous.

They were all resting at a little waterfall to clean up a bit and Ezra was trying to persuade Vin to clean himself up.

"Mr Larabee, perhaps you can persuade your little friend."

"Who are ya calling little. I'm way taller then ya now, Ez."

Vin had gotten another growth spurt, making him now stand five inches over Ezra who was a year older. He was now about Chris's height. JD was almost as tall as Ezra now.

Buck had gotten taller too as well as the other boys except Chris and Ezra.

"Height is irrelevant, Vin." snarled Ezra.

Buck was fiercely working on trying to get out the knots in JD's hair. Josiah was letting the water cool him off while Nathan was cleaning himself.

Chris who was sitting on a boulder keeping watch, slipped down from his perch and walked over to the arguing boys and put a hand on each shoulder.

"Vin, you should try and wash up. Even if it's just letting the dry dirt wash off your body."

Vin looked at Chris ready to argue, but he changed his mind and went into the water.

"It's cold!" he complained after being inside the water for a minute.

"Your body will adjust." Chris reassured as he too walked into the water with Ezra.

The boys were nearly finished cleaning themselves off when Vin stopped.

"What is it Vin?" asked Buck who was beside him.

"I thought I heard something."

"Probably a bird or an animal." said Josiah dismissively.

"No, it sounded like laughter."

"Is it a hyena? I heard about laughing dogs before." suggested JD.

"Hyenas don't live around these parts, JD." Said Ezra rolling his eyes.

"No, it sounded human."

Chris got out of the water and slipped on his shorts. Grabbing his bow and arrows he went into the jungle.

"The others waited impatiently for him to return.

"Maybe one of us should've went with Mr Larabee." said Ezra.

Before anyone could make a move to the shore Chris emerged from the forest with a cloaked figure with him.

"Who's that?" Asked Buck standing up.

The person answered his question by removing their hood to reveal a young Hispanic girl.

Ezra, Vin and Nathan dropped under the water to hide themselves.

"Well hello there, and what's your name?" Grinned Buck.

"Buck, you're naked." Hissed Ezra.

"I have nothing to hide."

"You are right that you have nothing, chico." laughed the girl.

The other boys snickered but Buck didn't blush.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Inez."

"That it is. What's a pretty thing like you doing out in the middle of a jungle?"

"If you must know I'm running away. The Don's son where I lived is hunting me down."

"Why?" asked Chris from behind her.

"If I may." interrupted Ezra, "Not that I'm not interested in this tale, but could we please be allowed to dress."

"You don't have to wait for me." Inez smiled.

"That I do."

"Can you wait over here please." asked Chris politely.

The girl nodded and went behind Chris's boulder that he was on earlier.

The boys quickly got out and found their clothes and got dressed.

When they'd were finished they joined Chris and Inez.

"So why are ya running?" Asked Vin.

"Paulo, the Don's son is a spoiled boy who likes to get what he wants. Lately he's been trying to make a move on me, but I never let him. His last attempt ended with me punching him in the face in front of the servants. He threatened me that I'd regret it so I ran."

"Where is this Paulo? I'd like a go at him." Said Buck getting riled up.

"There is no need because I have no wish to return."

"Where will you go?" Asked Chris.

"I'm heading to America to live there."

"That's where we're headed." JD said energetically.

"You can come with us." Offered Buck.

"It's a whole lot safer than traveling alone with no protection." Nodded Nathan.

"I thank you for your kind offer, but I don't wish to be a burden."

"Nonsense, it'll be good to have a girl in the group." Grinned Buck.

Josiah and Chris shook their heads and smiled.

Leave it to Buck to fall for the first girl he saw.

"Well if you don't mind."

"Perfect, welcome aboard. Again my name is Buck, remember that, no one else's name is import enough to remember." Buck pointed at himself and gave a goofy grin.

Josiah slapped him on the back of the head before smiling up at Inez, "My name is Josiah."

Vin gave a little wave, "Name's, Vin."

"I'm JD!" Said JD, raising his hand to get Inez's attention. Inez couldn't help but smile at the little boy.

Nathan gave a warming introduction while Ezra gave their newest member a bow and kissed her hand, partly to make Buck upset.

Chris simply said his name before giving orders.

"Not one with words is he?" she asked Buck.

"He says a lot by saying little."

Inez smiled and nodded, "Right."

The boys and Inez set out walking. At first it was just JD talking to Buck, but then the others joined in.

Chris who was walking a few paces ahead with Vin was out of earshot of what they were talking about.

"So which one of you is the leader?"

"That would be Mr Larabee." said Ezra who was walking beside Inez.

"Who?"

"Chris." Buck Clarified. He put out his hand to help Inez over a log, but she ignored it.

Buck only grinned and jogged to catch up with her.

"Why do you call him senor Larabee?"

Ezra swatted a bug that had landed on him, "I guess it's out of respect."

"What, did you lose respect for the rest of us or something, Ez?" laughed Buck.

"Only you, Buck."

Buck gave Ezra a playful shove which started a long shoving match.

Ezra tried pushing Buck but was pulled into a nudgy. His arms flailed as he tried to get out of it.

"Stop it Bucklin!"

Buck released Ezra with a little shove and Ezra stormed off ahead.

"Is he ok?" asked Inez a little concerned.

"Yeah he's just a little uptight."

Up in the front Chris and Vin were walking in a comfortable silence. Vin looked over his shoulder when he heard Buck and Ezra's scuffle.

"Shouldn't you stop them?"

Chris shook his head, "They're always at each other's throats."

"How're you doing?"

Chris shrugged.

"Are you alright with having a girl with us?"

Chris shrugged again.

"You've been awfully quiet since she showed up."

Chris looked over at Vin.

"Does she bother you?"

"No."

"Cause you haven't been talking."

"It has nothing to do with her."

"Then what?"

Chris ran his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know. Having her here reminds me that I won't be able to see Sarah again."

"I'm sorry, pard."

Nathan and Josiah were walking a little bit behind Chris and Vin.

"Do you think Chris is ok?" asked Nathan.

"A troubled soul is a restless one."

"You think he's troubled?"

"I think we all have demons that we're facing from our past. Chris might be going through that."

Nathan wasn't sure what his friend meant but he hoped that whatever was troubling Chris would soon be resolved.

"I thought it was just puberty."

Josiah laughed, "I think Chris has already gone through that."

"What's puberty?" asked JD from behind.

"You'll know once you go through it, but in the mean time you're young so it's not something you need to be worrying about."

JD nodded.

"But still," continued Nathan, "what can be bothering him? Do you think it's Inez?"

"Even if Chris didn't like her, I don't think he would kick her out to be by herself."

"Yeah I suppose."

After walking about two hours the group decided to take a break.

Buck instantly took the seat next to Inez leaving JD to sit alone until Nathan and Josiah joined him.

Ezra sat by himself playing with a twig.

Chris sat a little bit away from the group with Vin at his side.

"So Inez, whatcha got in that bag of yours?" asked Buck curious.

Inez pulled the little bag that she'd been carrying over her shoulder and sat it down between her legs to open it.

Inside was a few girl things, some food and water, and to Ezra's delight a book.

"What book is that?" he asked eagerly.

"A book my abuela gave me when I was a little girl, Blancanieves, known to you as Snow White."

"It's in spanish?" asked Ezra in disappointment.

"Sorry."

"No it's fine."

Inez fished into her bag again and pulled out two dice.

"My amiga back at home showed me a couple games you can play with these and gave it to me as a gift."

Ezra held out his hand and accepted the small white objects. His smile reached his eyes as he rolled the die in his hand to listen to the sound.

"Sweet music to my ears."

"If you say, chico."

Buck pulled out two hair ties.

"What are these?"

"They're used to pull your hair back." explained Inez.

Buck used one to pull JD's hair back in a ponytail.

"Wow kid, I can actually see your face now."

Chris held out his hand and Buck gave one to him.

Turning to Vin, he pulled his hair back into a long pony tail.

"Wow, chico. You have long hair. You can almost braid it." marveled Inez.

Buck snickered.

"Yeah well I prefer my hair down." he pulled the hair tie out and handed it back to Inez.

"But with it up you could actually see your face and you can see us better."

Vin looked around at the others. It was true that his hair blocked much of his vision and was usually in his way. JD was happily embracing his new hair style and laughing with Nathan. Buck went back to talking to Inez.

Turning to Chris he pointed to his head, "What do you really think about my hair?"

Chris shrugged, "It's none of my business what I think really."

"But do you think I should pull it back?"

"It's up to you, Vin. I can't decide for you."

"But you make decisions for us all the time."

The twig in Chris's hands that he was fiddling with broke into two.

Vin looked down at the two pieces.

Standing up, Chris stormed off, "I need space."

A minute later Ezra stood up and excused himself and walked off without anyone noticing.

"What's wrong with Chris, Vin?" Buck asked, stepping up to the boy.

Vin shrugged, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? I thought you were his best friend."

"I thought that was supposed to be you."

"No, I may not be Chris's best friend, but I'm his first and oldest friend."

Vin hung his head down, "Well I don't know what's wrong with him since he ain't telling me nothing. I guess I'm not his best friend either, or he just probably doesn't trust me since I've failed him already."

"Failed him?"

Vin ran off, with Buck calling after him.

"What's with him?"

Josiah looked to Nathan, "How about I go after Chris and you find Vin."

Nathan nodded and they split up leaving Buck, JD and Inez alone.

"Josiah, I don't know what I'm doing. I act like I do, but I don't. I don't know how to actually get to America or how long it's going to take. I don't even know exactly where we are. And if we even make it, how am I supposed to find where JD is supposed to be? Find Ezra's relatives and Nathan's family. I don't even know where I'm going to take Inez to. I have no clue where to even start or how we'll even get there. It's a big land to be crossing and we're just kids. I just don't know if I can keep acting like I'm in charge. I don't even know why I began acting like I was."

Josiah listened patiently while Chris vented and when the boy finally sat down he began, "Well Chris, I feel like you've done a good job so far. I know you don't see it, but the others do. You try so hard to act tough and act like nothing's bothering you and that's what's going to start eating at you. Share the burden. We're here not to ride on your shoulders and let you go through this alone, but to walk along side you."

Chris looked at Josiah with tears in his eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, I guess I just needed to vent a bit."

"That's alright, brother. That's what I'm here for."

Vin was curled up sitting on a large root, staring straight ahead with unfallen tears.

"Vin are you ok?" asked Nathan carefully.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, Nate. Do I look like a failure or something?"

"What's brought this on?"

He sat down next to the younger boy.

"I don't know. Chris just doesn't talk to me as much about what's going on with him. Do you think it's because I messed up with the directions and had us land in South America?"

"I think you're the only one still dwelling on that."

"Then why is Chris shutting me out?"

"He's been tight lip with us all, Vin. Not just you."

"But I wanted to be his friend. The one he could talk to, you know? When I first met him, I had to work up my courage to even talk to him. He was like this cool guy, doing what he wanted without caring what others said. I wanted to be like him. So when he talked to me and took me under his wing I was thrilled, but ever since then I almost got him killed with the beam falling on him, getting us turned around because I was too stupid to admit I wasn't sure."

Nathan put a hand around Vin's shoulder, "You can't be so hard on yourself. Chris just has a lot on his mind. I'm sure he just prefers to deal with it on his own. He's just that kind of guy."

"Yeah I guess."

Ezra sat down on a root and looked up at the jungle canopy. A tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it away.

He clutched the die in his hand as he choked back tears.

The thought that he would never see his mom never occurred to him. He was reminded of his mother by the die.

Years of being mad at her for dropping off to live with relatives and then bring him along just to be ignored didn't matter to him anymore. He just wanted to hear her voice.

He was her listening ear. The one she'd complain to when things went wrong.

Ezra curled up in a ball and cried silent tears. His voice would hitch and he would choke on sobs.

Wiping his nose and rubbing the tears from his eyes he was trying to get himself together to return to the others when he heard someone's voice.

He looked around him but didn't see anything.

Ezra ran to find the others to warn them.

Vin and Nathan had just returned when Ezra ran into their clearing.

"Ezra, I didn't see you leave. Where were you?"

"That's not important, Nathan, I just heard someone coming from that direction." He pointed in the direction he had just came from.

"Where's Chris and Josiah?" asked Vin.

"Josiah went to look for Chris."

Vin started after them but was pulled back by Nathan.

"Right now we don't need more of us splitting up."

"But-"

"We have to get up in the trees. Josiah and Chris can take care of themselves."

Vin nodded.

The boys helped Inez to climb up the easiest tree they could find. They instructed her on how to climb a vine before climbing themselves.

"Is this what you guys do?" she asked as she finally reached the branch that the boys were all waiting on.

"It helps us avoid dangers lurking below." explained Buck. "Not that we're cowards or anything."

"But we kinda are." finished Ezra.

"Only you. Where were you anyway? Were you crying or something?"

Ezra muttered something under his breath and looked away.

"I see Chris and Josiah!" said Vin excitedly pointing in one direction to a pair sitting ten yards away.

"And over yonder is the people I heard." pointed Ezra from the opposite direction.

It was a group of at least four people walking towards their friends.

"We need to warn them." hissed Vin.

"How? If we call out to them then we'll be giving our position away."

Vin looked down where Chris was holding his head in his hands. He willed a silent message to be sent to him, 'Please Chris, you need to move. It isn't safe.'

Chris sat up. Something wasn't right. He couldn't hear the others.

Closing his eyes he listened to his surroundings; danger.

Chris stood up, "We need to get off the ground."

Josiah looked up in surprise, "Something wrong?"

"I just have an uneasy feeling like something isn't right."

Josiah nodded and stood beside Chris.

"We should move a bit a ways before climbing to give us more time."

They ran a few yards before Josiah found a tree for them to climb.

He went up first and Chris followed. The wound in his shoulder however wasn't fully healed and his arm gave out and he fell back down.

Chris gruted as he landed on his bad shoulder and rolled to his side.

Josiah dropped back down, "Are you alright?"

"Not particularly."

Footsteps approached them and soon they were encircled by four teenagers.

They were all hispanic and wore customary clothes.

"Afternoon amigos, I wonder if you can be of some assistance to us."

"Depends." said Chris, "What do you want?"

"We're looking for a young hispanic girl. Have you happened to see one?"

"You're the closest thing I've seen to a girl with those clothes."

The oldest of the boys looked away to hide a smile.

The boy who had spoken however was not amused by Chris's joke.

"You think you're funny do you?"

"No, I'm just not in the mood to deal with a little piece of shit like you."

The boy got up in Chris's face, "No one talks to me like that and get away with it."

"So whatcha going to do?" asked Chris, trying to not let the pain in his shoulder show.

"Rafael, teach him a lesson."

Rafael, the oldest boy looked to the one who had given him the order.

"Paulo, I don't think it's necessary to get into a fight with someone when we need to be looking for Inez. Your father only gave you two weeks before he wants you back."

"I guess you didn't hear me, Rafael."

The older boy sighed and stepped forward.

Chris prepared himself to fight, but Josiah stepped in between them.

"Sorry but I can't allow you to lay a hand on him."

"Get out of the way, Josiah. I can handle this."

"You must have a death wish, amigo. Rafael here is the best fighter."

"Well you must live in a small circle, amigo." smiled Chris and stepped around Josiah.

"Rafael!"

The older boy acted quickly and swung a fist at Chris, but Chris ready for him and ducked.

The momentum threw the boy off giving Chris enough time to turn his body and kick the back of Rafael's legs to make them buckle.

Rafael laughed as he got up.

"You're pretty fast." he said in between laughing, his accent thick.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."

"Rafael, remember whose side you on." snarled Paulo, and then turning to Chris, "I hope we meet again when I'm not pressed for time."

Paulo walked away with his two lackeys. Rafael stayed behind.

"I hope this will not be the last time we see each other. I would love to fight with you properly, and when you are fully healed." He bowed his head and walked off after the others.

"Strange group." marveled Josiah.

Chris ignored him as he set down to catch his breath. His shoulder was aching and he wanted nothing more than to rest.

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

A few minutes later they were joined by the others who came running.

"Chris, Josiah are you guys alright?" asked Buck.

"We're good, Buck. Chris only hurt himself by falling out of a tree."

Chris sent Josiah a glare which the older boy ignored.

"Who were they?" asked JD.

"That was Paulo and his lackeys. I didn't think Rafael would be with them though." answered Inez.

"He didn't seem like the kinda guy to be taking orders from a runt." nodded Chris.

"The Don took Rafael in after his family died. In return, Rafael does what the Don wants. Which of late has been to protect that idiot Paulo."

Vin hesitantly approached Chris, not sure if he should look him in the eye.

Chris smiled and placed a hand on Vin's head.

Vin looked up and smiled.

"I'm sorry guys for acting distant. I had a lot on my mind."

"Aw Chris, we know you ain't one for words in the first place." joked Buck.

"Unfortunately not all can go without hearing words of affirmation and comfort like you do Buck."

"Of course."

"With this Paulo fella near by, I think we should stop for the night and let him continue on." suggested Nathan. "That will also give me time to close that wound you reopened."

Chris gave a weak smile.

"Unfortunately I'm too weak to argue."

For the rest of the night the boys played games with the Inez's die and Ezra's cards. They joked around and laughed till their stomachs hurt.

Chris retired early to rest leaving the others to have a talk.

"So guys, we need to talk about what's going to happen when we reach America." started Josiah.

"What do you mean?" asked Vin.

"Chris and me were talking and basically he has no idea how were going to drop you guys all off at your individual destinations."

The group was silent in thought.

Ezra played around with his stack of cards in his hands.

Vin pushed a rock around with his foot.

JD looked around at the others.

Nathan studied his hands.

"The question I think we should be asking is if we want to go our own ways." said Buck in a low voice.

"What do you mean, Bucklin?" asked Ezra.

"I know that Vin, JD, Josiah and Chris has no particular place to call home. I was here to bring Chris to some relatives, but I don't know how they'd feel with watching more than one kid."

"I'd hate to lose JD and I'm sure Chris wouldn't stand to let Vin get taken away."

"So what do you suggest, we don't go to America anymore?"

"I can't speak for any of you, especially if you have family members who might be looking for you."

"I want to stay with you, Buck!" said JD giving the other boy a hug.

"I really have no place to go and you guys are the closest thing I have to a family." shrugged Vin.

"What about you, Nathan and Ezra?"

"Well there's nothing left for me at my uncle's. He can't afford to keep me and I don't know my parents so I'll stay with you guys."

"Ezra?"

Ezra looked at the others, not really sure for the first time what he wanted.

"I think I want to go and live with my relatives."


	9. Chapter 9

The boys made a promise never to talk about their choices when it was the next morning and especially not around Chris. Not just yet.

Vin however was still thinking about it. He couldn't understand why Ezra had made the decision to leave them once they made it to America.

He pulled Buck aside twenty minutes into their journey the next morning.

"Why do ya think Ez ain't staying with us after we get to America? Do you suppose it had to do with me getting angry at him not catching Chris? I said sorry."

Buck patted Vin on the head. Which was now a little harder because they were almost the same height.

"Don't stress over it. Ez just may want to be with family."

"We ain't a family?"

"Yeah we are, but we can't replace his real family."

Vin's head drooped, "I can't help that I had something to do with his decision."

"Vin, we ain't supposed to be talking about it anymore."

"I know but-"

"You promised you wouldn't."

Vin nodded and kept silent. He did look ahead to where Ezra was walking a few paces by Chris, but not actually talking to the older boy.

I bet Chris would be able to change his mind if he knew.

Ezra looked over his shoulder to see Vin looking at him. He could tell in the younger boy's eyes what he was thinking.

Turning back to the front, he looked at Chris's back which he now realized was covered in lashes and bruises.

"Mr Larabee, did you acquire those scars during the fall?"

Chris looked around and rose an eyebrow.

"No. It's from my third foster dad. He would have fits of rage. He'd beat me and his wife. It's him who taught me the importance of defending what's important. After I was moved, I'd still go and visit her to make sure she was ok."

"Defending what's important." repeated Ezra to himself.

Chris gave a small smile, "She said that not matter what, I should protect my family."

"But you were thrown from one house to another." Like me. "I wouldn't call them family."

"I guess, but in my fourth foster home, I was able to find a family through my friendship and the girl I love. There's more than one kind of family that's blood related."

"And marriage."

"Marriage too."

"I know this group is sort of like a family to you and the rest-"

"But not you."

Ezra gave a small huff, "I don't belong here with you guys. Vin has you. JD has Buck. Nathan has Josiah. Me, I got-"

"Me, and you got the others too. You may not feel like you are, but you're family."

Ezra nodded.

"Besides, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my little soldier saving me back there with Stuart."

"Yeah I guess. You did some serious damage to his leg. I know now never to cross you."

"Yeah, I think I went a little over board. He may walk with a limp if not with a cane."

"He's going to be shuffling around like some old guy." snorted the younger boy. "That's what happens when you try going up against our Mr Larabee."

Chris looked up. His demeanor now serious.

"Yeah it was, but I don't know what I can do with an injury like this."

Ezra gave him a playful shove in the side, "Did you forget already that you have the others, and your little soldier."

Chris smiled.

From their little map, they were able to find the Panama Canal.

"You have got to be kidding me." said Ezra as they all stood at the edge.

"That definitely ain't a regular river. That's for sure." added Vin.

"How are we going to cross?" asked JD.

"There should be a way to cross down further." explained Inez.

The boys followed her lead and were taken to a place where a few boats were waiting to cross.

She pointed to a boat.

"We'll hide on one of these and cross on over."

"Nice." grinned Vin.

"What if we get caught?" Nathan said, looking a bit uncertain.

"The worse they could possibly do is throw us overboard."

"Overboard!" Ezra's head whipped around.

"Maybe we should find an alternative route." Chris suggested.

Ezra shook his head, "No, if cross the canal by sneaking on board is our best shot of getting to America faster then we'll do it."

"But you can't swim."

"I'll be fine."

Chris looked around and saw everyone was okay with the idea.

"Ok then, we should find one that's leaving soon and board that one."

"I can find that out." Vin volunteered.

He ran off down the road.

"What should the rest of us do?"

"Once we find out the time of departure, we'll split up and sneak on board in twos."

They all nodded.

Vin returned and informed them that a ship called the Royals would be leaving in ten minutes. He pointed it out where it was tied up.

"Looks like a trading ship." Buck said as he and Chris walked up together to get a better look at it.

The ship was loaded with many random objects. There were pieces of furniture and an unusual large supply of clocks of different shapes and sizes.

The two boys climbed on board and hid behind a stack of large boxes.

"Do you think this plan will work out?" whispered Buck in Chris's ear.

"You don't think it will?"

"No, I'm not saying that, but I was curious as to why to paired us up like this."

Chris had partnered himself up with Buck with Vin to be with Inez. Nathan was to go with Ezra and Josiah with JD.

"I don't know. I was thinking with everything that Josiah would be able to keep JD safe with his size and all as well as quiet. Vin has experience and can help Inez. Nathan can swim so if anything goes wrong then Ezra would be taken care of."

"You know perfectly well that I wanted to be partnered up with Inez. Vin probably expected to be partnered up with you."

"Yeah well, I'm not really trying to satisfy anyone right now. I'm thinking about this logically."

"And I'm not?"

"Well no."

"So help me if Inez starts falling for Vin. I'll be coming after you then him."

Chris hushed his friend as he heard footsteps going by.

From his position he could see Josiah and JD.

So far so good, Chris thought.

"I'll ask you again what are you doing on my pa's ship?" came a boy's voice.

The hair on the back of Chris's neck prickled. He couldn't tell who it was the speaker was talking to.

"We were just hoping we could perhaps cross the canal, kind sir." came the familiar southern drawl.

Chris cursed. He wanted to stand up and do something but Buck held him down.

"You need to pay."

"As you can see I have nothing on me."

"What about that there coat jacket you have there?"

Chris heard a long pause.

"I'm afraid I can't give this to you."

"Then I'm afraid I'll be reporting you two stowaways."

Chris was done listening. He stood up and was able to see the back of the boy harassing his friends.

"Wait!"

It looked like Ezra was saying it to both of them.

Chris stared at them. Waiting to fight if necessary.

Ezra removed the coat jacket that he had tied up in a tight bundle and had been carrying. He handed it over to the boy who took it and seemed to be admiring it.

Chris saw the hurt in Ezra's eyes as he watched the boy take his coat.

Standish closed his eyes and looked to be counting in his head before opening them back up and looked indifferent. He said something in a low voice and Nathan and him disappeared out of Chris's view.

"Is everything ok?" whispered Buck from below.

Chris sat back down, "Yeah."

The trip across the canal took about five hours which was longer than the boys expected. Soon they heard people beginning to unload.

"What should we do now?" asked Buck.

"We get off carefully. Vin will know what to do. I'm confident in Josiah, and Ezra and Nathan had to pay their way so they're fine."

Buck nodded.

The two stood up to look around.

Around them were men moving goods off the boat and returning.

"Here, follow my lead." hissed Buck as he grabbed a box.

Chris did the same and the two carried the boxes off the boat and set them down on the side.

"Nice."

"I try. So now what?"

"We look for the others."

Buck pointed to an alleyway, "I see Josiah and JD with Vin and Inez."

Chris and Buck ran over.

"Is everyone here?"

"Nathan and Ezra haven't arrived yet." said Vin, still looking out for them.

Chris knew exactly where Ezra could be.

"Shoot."

"What?" asked Josiah.

"He's still on the boat."

"I see Nathan!" Vin informed everyone.

Nathan ran over to them.

"Ezra said that he won't be long behind."

"Hell he is." growled Chris.

"Should we go after him?" asked JD.

"Vin and I will. The rest of you stay here." said Chris.

Vin followed Chris back to the boat. They had to duck behind boxes a few times before finally getting back on board.

The others watched a little longer before taking a seat to wait.

"Oh no." groaned Inez.

"Something wrong?" Buck asked, moving closer to her.

"Paolo. He's just over there."

She pointed to where a group of hispanic boys were all standing around.

Josiah looked too, "That's them alright."

"What should we do? If we go then the others won't know where to find us."

"We'll go." said Buck, pointing to himself and Inez.

"We will?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, chica. I can protect you."

"I'm sure I have a better idea where everything is around here then you."

"But at least with the two of us, it will be a little more fair of a fight if it comes down to it. You beat him up once right?"

"Yeah, but that was because I caught him of guard."

Buck didn't hear her though, "Come on, this way."

The two ran off down the alleyway leaving the others still unsure of what to do.

"Great, now we have to worry about finding them after all this." muttered Nathan, "He only did that to get some time alone with her."

"Was that it?" asked JD confused.

*meanwhile on the boat*

Chris looked around the main deck of the boat with Vin looking below. He had just determined that he wasn't there when Vin ran up to him.

"Ezra's downstairs. I told him to come but he won't listen to me."

Chris had Vin lead the way and the two made their way downstairs and to a room.

When they entered they saw Ezra get punched in the face. The smaller boy staggered a bit before getting up again to lunge forward and grab the much taller boy by his midsection.

The other boy didn't move much by Ezra's attempt. He was about to slam Standish in the back when his hand was stopped by Chris.

The boy looked up in astonishment before he was punched in the nose.

Chris winced at the pain it gave his sore arm. It felt great to use it again though.

Ezr picked himself back up off the floor.

"Why, Mr Larabee, you didn't have to come. I had the situation well at hand. This curmudgeon here believes he had the upper hand but I was working him." Standish said as he caught his breath.

"Sure thing, Ez." laughed Vin.

"Enough playing around Ezra, we're leaving." ordered Chris.

The boy had recovered and was charging at them, but Chris elbowed him in the eye. The boy stumbled backwards holding his injury.

Chris took the opportunity to grab Ezra and run out the room with Vin at his heels.

Ezra pulled, trying to get out of Chris's grasp, "Let go of my person already. I don't need you holding my hand."

Once they were finally off the boat again Chris let go.

Ezra dug his hands into his pockets and looked down the street.

"If it wasn't for that big gut protecting the other boy then I would've gotten my coat back."

"Ezra, you didn't stand a chance up against 're-"

"What? Too small? Too weak? I'll have you know that I was fine on my own before I met any of you! You're just as bad as that boy, Robert Spikes or whatever. You only think with your fist."

Chris wanted to say something but Vin pulled on him.

"JD's coming."

They all waited for JD who came running up to them looking upset.

"Something wrong, kid?" asked Vin.

"Buck and Inez. They're in trouble."

They all ran to where the others were waiting for them.

"What happened?" asked Chris once they made it.

"Buck took Inez away to hide because that Paolo guy is here. I had JD follow and it looks like they are being cornered in some back alley." said Josiah.

"Show me."

The group all ran down the street causing a few people to yell at them. They rounded a corner to where four boys were huddled around Buck who was standing in front of Inez.

Chris ran to stand at his friend's side.

"So we meet again, amigo. Funny, I thought I recall you saying you didn't see a girl anywhere in the forest, but here you are standing up with this guy who is with the girl we were looking for."

"Shut your face pipsqueak if you know what's good for you." snarled Buck.

"Step away from the girl unless you want to tie your fate with hers."

"I don't think it's our fate you need to be worrying about." said Josiah from behind them.

Nathan, JD and Vin stood beside him with Ezra standing a little further back still holding himself.

"So there's seven of you. A collection of losers and outcast. Quite magnificent. Did all your parents dump you all in the jungle to die?"

"You don't want to know where I'm about to dump your sorry ass after I'm done handing it to you." said Buck shaking his fist.

"Fighting with fist is barbaric. Why don't we fight with these? That is if you even have one." Paolo pulled out a knife and waved it in front of Buck.

"No!" said Inez, trying to pull Buck back.

"Chris, let me borrow your pocket knife."

Chris took his eyes of Paolo to look at his friend as if he were crazy.

"Are you out of your mind? My pocket knife is small compared to that thing he has."

"I don't need it to be big as much as I need it to work."

"Chico Buck, it isn't worth it. You'll just earn his father as an enemy if you by chance win."

"Buck, it isn't worth it. You don't have anything to prove." said Chris trying to reason with him.

Buck took the pocket knife out of Chris pocket and flicked it open.

"Enough, let's do this!"

"Hot headed. This will be a quick fight." laughed his opponent.

The two began to move in a circle. The others standing around to watch the fight go down.

Chris kept his eyes on Rafael as well as Paolo. If it looked like Buck needed help then he would stop the fight.

"Keep away from him Buck. Let him come to you." instructed Nathan.

"We ain't got all day to do that." said Buck as he charged.

He swung the little knife and missed. Wilmington had to catch himself before slamming into the side of the building.

Paolo laughed, "It's like playing with a bull."

"Well you should know that if you mess with the bull you get the horns." huffed Buck as he swung his knife again.

This time Paolo slashed the inside of Buck's arm.

Nathan winced and Chris tensed.

Buck slowed down and shifted the knife to his other hand. He walked around in a circle to catch his breath.

"What's wrong? Are you done talking already? Not so tough now are you?"

Buck swiped at Paolo's legs but the other boy jumped back and cut Buck's cheek.

Buck stumbled back, clutching his face.

"Oh no you didn't. No one messes up my face and gets away with it."

Buck lunged forward again earning two more cuts. By the time he stepped back he was sporting five cuts.

"Give up, you don't stand a chance."

"Never."

"Chico Buck please, you're only hurting yourself at this point." pleaded Inez.

Paolo laughed, "She even knows you can't do it. It's time for you to come back Inez."

Inez spat on the ground, "I'll never go back with you."

Paolo got angry and started walking towards her.

Buck put himself between the two.

"Get out of the way. You already lost."

"She says she won't go. Pipsqueak."

Paolo swiped at Buck's neck but Buck was quick to duck and uppercut him in the chin.

The boy stumbled back holding his chin.

"I said no fist."

"Who said you could make the rules." Buck said with a smile and tossed Chris's blade to the side and curl his hands into fist.

"Get him!" yelled Paolo, stepping back to let the other boys charge at Buck.

Chris stepped forward and took one of the boys while to everyone else's surprise, Rafael grabbed the other boy by the collar and punched him in the face.

"Rafael!" yelled Paolo furious.

Chris finished pinning his guy and looked up.

Paolo stood almost on his tiptoes to confront the older and taller boy.

"What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be fight for me."

"No, I'm supposed to protect you. Now if you want me to continue to protect you and not beat the crap out of you and your two thugs then I suggest we drop this and go home."

"You don't give the orders, I do."

"And ultimately I can chose to obey them or not."

Paolo looked over to the other two who were now lying on the ground nursing their wounds.

"You won't be allowed to return."

"That's something I can live with.

Paolo stalked off, "Come on!"

The two got up and rushed to follow him.

"Well that was unexpected." said Josiah watching them leave.

"Thanks." said Chris to Rafael, picking up his knife.

"No, gracias. I've been looking for an opportunity to leave him for a while."

"Where will you go now?"

"You can come with us!" JD suggested.

"No thanks, chiqito. Paolo will probably have his father's men come hunt me down and I would not want to cause your group any more grief. Perhaps I may find six amigos of my own. He was wrong about you being outcast. I see a deep bond among you guys, and that is magnificent." To Inez he said, "I'm glad you can move on. Make the most of your life."

"Gracias Rafael." she smiled.

The older boy walked out of the alley and disappeared in the crowd.

"Ha, I won. And you guys didn't think I could." grinned Buck.

"You cheated, Bucklin. Hey, there weren't really any rules in place. There usually aren't any when fighting. Besides he cut my face. How am I supposed to get girls if my face is messed up?"

"Taking a bath for starters." JD said while holding his nose.

Buck swatted at him but missed.

Inez kissed Buck on the cheek, "Gracias, my brave idiot."

Buck grinned harder, "Can you say it again without the idiot part?"

"No."

The rest of the boys all laughed.

They spent the rest of the day talking over what had happened. Stopping a few times to snag some food from an open food stand.

"It feels good to be back in some form of civilization." remarked Buck.

"I guess if you mean grumpy old men who chase you down for stealing a couple of apples then no." said Nathan.

Vin tugged on Chris's strap that he had across his back.

"Can we stop for the night?" he yawned.

"I guess we could-"

"Hey where's Ezra?" asked Nathan.

They looked around the group but Standish was gone again.

"I'm going to kill him." growled Chris.

"Wait, there he is coming straight towards us!" JD pointed out.

They all turned and saw Ezra running with his jacket in one hand. Behind him were grown men in uniform.

"It's the police!" shouted Nathan.

"What should we do?" asked Buck.

"Take the others and hide. I'll get Ezra." Chris ordered.

He didn't wait for an answer before running towards Ezra.

Ezra saw Chris running towards him. He knew he was going to have his ass handed to him after this was all over. If they got away.

He'd been running for sometime now but these men didn't look like they were just going to let him go.

Chris beckoned him to follow him down a street. Ezra nodded and ran after him.

He eventually caught up with Larabee and the two began running together.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I really don't think now's the time to be talking about this."

"You're right. Once this is over."

Chris didn't get to finish his sentence as he dragged Ezra out of sight of two more officers standing around.

They ducked into a store.

"What now?" hissed Ezra as he watched the officers that were pursuing them run past the entrance.

"Now, we'll go back the way we came. Just as soon as I know that it is clear."

Chris looked out the window and scanned the area. Figuring it was good, he opened the door and pulled the other boy along with him.

"You know, it's going to be pretty easy to track us down seeing how were all half dressed. If we don't get arrested for just that."

"We're kids, I doubt they're going to be that enforceful."

"Hey you two!" yelled a voice from behind. It was the two officers that had been standing around.

"Sure thing Mr Larabee."

The boys began to run again.

"I can't keep this up. I'm not used to this much exercise and it's hard to keep up with your longer strides." huffed Ezra.

"Come on we're almost to the main street."

They rounded the corner and slammed right into a man.

Both boys fell down and to their dismay, the officers caught up.

"Thank you sir for helping us apprehend these two." said one of the officers.

"What have they done?" asked the man.

"The small one was caught stealing."

The man looked down at the boys in surprise.

"Is that so? And what are you going to do with them now?"

"Find their parents."

"Good luck with that." murmured Ezra.

"Do you not have parents?" asked the man.

"I'm a US citizen and I know my rights."

"You aren't in the US kid." said one of the officers.

"Which station are you taking them to?"

An officer told him the name, "Why?"

"I'd like to post their bail."

"Huh?" said Chris and Ezra together. Even the police officers were confused.

The man handed an officer a card.

"The names Orin Travis and I'm a junior lawyer."

 **A/N: I briefly mentioned the Panama Canal, but feel free to check out images and facts about the real thing. How it was buillt and how it works. One of the coolest man made inventions.**

 **So he was briefly mentioned in the story, but we'll see some more of this Robert aka 'Bob' Spikes later on. And what up with this Orin Travis dude huh? I wonder why his name sounds familiar :) Thanks for the reviews. I got a boost of inspiration from the last ones.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chris didn't let go of Ezra the whole trip to the city jail. He kept a firm grip on Ezra's shash that now held the boy's coat jacket and clothes.

He wasn't sure whether or not to trust this new guy who claimed to be a lawyer. In his experience, anyone who said that they wanted to help him and was wearing a suit never turned out good.

They were ushered to a bench and told to sit down. The room was cold and Ezra put his coat jacket on. Chris sat straight, trying not to touch the cold wall behind him.

All around them were officers running around with papers and law breakers. A few phones rang impatiently for someone to pick up. The whole place was chaotic.

Chris eyed the lawyer in the suit talking to a police officer. He also paid attention to the door which was being monitored by a single guard.

If he could just catch the man not looking then he could have Ezra slip away. Since the other boy was small, he should be able to get out easier than himself. He was used to being in a police station. He could take whatever they wanted to try dish at him.

Looking down he saw Ezra sitting up and alert. Chris smiled and went back to his scan over the room.

"Ezra, when you see an opportunity, I want you to get out." he whispered in a low voice.

"Sorry Mr Larabee, but I can't do that."

Chris looked back down in surprise.

Ezra showed him a toothy grin, "I don't plan on losing you again. We're in this together. I don't plan on letting you take the fall for something I did again."

Chris nodded.

The lawyer finished talking to the officer and walked over to them. Chris tensed to jump in front of Ezra if necessary.

The suit kneeled down to where he was about eye level with them.

"So boys, what are your names?"

Ezra looked to Chris who frowned at the man.

Neither spoke.

The man sighed, "Well my name is Orin Travis. Is there anywhere I can take you to? A home perhaps?"

Chris continued to frown, but Ezra began to nudge him.

Ezra whispered into his ear and Travis waited for the older one who seemed to be the one to speak.

"We're trying to get to America."

"The US? Well you got a little ways to go to get there if you plan on going by foot."

Travis watched the older boy slump a little and frown.

"Do you have family you can contact?"

The younger boy shifted in his seat and Travis move to work on him.

"Do you want to make a call?"

The older boy put himself in between the two, "No he doesn't. Look, thanks for bailing us out, but we'd like to go now and stop this interrogation."

Travis stood up and the boys followed.

"Well if that's what you want. Good luck on getting to the US." he pulled a card out of his jacket and handed it to the younger boy. "Take my card if you need anything." The older one intercepted it. "I'll be in town till the end of the week if you change your mind."

Travis nodded to them before taking his leave.

Chris watched him go before taking Ezra and head out in the opposite direction when they were outside.

"Are you serious about not taking his help? When someone offers you something the normal response isn't to turn it down." huffed Ezra as he ran to keep up with Chris's pace.

"In the world I live in there's no such thing as a free favor."

"In my world too, but is it seriously worth losing out on getting to the US faster. We've been going on like this for what, a month now. Everyone is probably twenty pounds underweight by now. Vin is a walking stick, your shoulder is still bad and Buck is now injured. I think whatever he is offering is worth whatever he wants in return don't you think?"

"He never said that he could get us there, Ez."

"Well, you never let him offer." muttered Ezra.

Travis watched the two boys leave the police station from his car parked on the street.

He thought about what he had the opportunity to observe. Two boys half naked with their shirts tied in little bundles on their backs. The older boy carrying a bow and arrows with a nasty bruise on his left shoulder. Both were pretty tan and thin. Neither looked like the other so they couldn't be related, but they were really close. The older one was definitely protective of the younger.

The older one also didn't like him which could mean that he didn't like grown ups or maybe just people who looked like him. The younger boy looked like he wanted to contact someone but was stopped.

Travis smiled, an interesting case fell right in his lap on vacation. Following them would probably not work in a car and he wasn't in the right clothes to be chasing them through the streets. His only hope to meet them again would be through the card he had given them.

It was night time by the time Chris and Ezra were able to find the others.

They collapsed down on the ground from exhaustion. The others began to question them, unaware of how tired the two were.

"What happened? What took you guys so long?" began Buck.

"Did you guys get caught?" asked Vin.

Ezra spoke for the two of them, "We were unfortunately caught, but a lawyer paid for our release."

"Like we're going to believe you got a lawyer." laughed Buck.

"Unless he does. Remember he was in first class on the ship." pointed Nathan.

"We ran into a lawyer and that's how we were caught, but he got us out." continued Ezra.

"Stop lying."

"He's telling the truth." said Chris finally, "He wanted to know about us but I wasn't going to talk."

"I still don't know why you wanted us to be silent." frowned Ezra.

"I've been in jail before. They just pick you for information. If I were to tell them about the others then we'd all be in jail and then put in the system. Before long we'd be split up in different homes."

"So what are you going to do with his card?"

Chris pulled the business card out of his pocket.

The others all took turns looking at it.

"Are you going to call him?"

"No. We can take care of ourselves."

Ezra scoffed but regretted the attention it caused. Everyone looked at him. Some with frowns in their brow.

Ezra turned away from the group.

"We should just go to sleep." yawned Chris.

"I was able to find an abandoned building." said Josiah.

Josiah led the way down a few blocks before they reached a large factory building.

"It looks dark and scary." said JD uncomfortably.

"It's ok JD. I won't let anything happen to you." Buck put an arm around his little friend. The pain from his wounds from earlier made him wince.

"Let's go in and find somewhere to lay low."

Climbing the wire fence, they crossed the short distance to the locked door.

Ezra was able to pick the lock in under a minute and they all went inside.

"So you really can pick a lock." observed Nathan, "I thought you only just called it that when you used the key."

Ezra didn't give his little reply but sat down on a clear spot on the floor and used his bundle as a pillow.

"I guess we should just go to sleep." said Chris.

Chris watched everyone get settled. Josiah and Nathan laid back to back. JD laid in Buck's arms. Inez slept by herself between Buck and Nathan. Chris saw that Vin was waiting for him.

Looking back to where Ezra was lying, he could see that he was facing away from the group.

Chris sighed and laid down. Vin quickly lay beside him and was soon snoring.

He listened to the sounds everyone else made in their sleep. There was a soft sniffle that he thought was coming from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, careful not to disturb Vin, he saw it was Ezra.

Chris thought back to what Ezra had said earlier to him, 'Vin has you. JD has Buck. Nathan has Josiah. I have-'

"Me." he whispered under his breath.

Carefully, he detached himself from Vin and crawled over to Ezra.

Pulling the boy's arm and thigh, he dragged him closer to where Vin and him were sleeping. Once they were close together, Chris lay back down and wrapped an arm around each boy.

Since they were in a place with an abundance of food, the group decided to take the opportunity to 'borrow' as much food as possible and gain back as much weight as possible.

Nathan bandaged up Buck's wounds a best as he could, but Buck kept complaining about how his cheek was going to have a scar.

Inez used a piece a charcoal that she had found outside the old factory and drew a hopscotch board.

She spent an hour entertaining JD while Vin used another piece of charcoal to keep practicing his writing.

Ezra would play around with the pair of die on the side of the building.

So far everything was going ok. Chris smiled confidently. He didn't need any adult's help. He could take care of his family.

A screeching sound behind him made him turn. Everyone else looked too.

A group of boys on bikes stood on the opposite side of their fence.

Chris wondered what they could've wanted.

"Which one of you is Larabee!" shouted one of the boys with an eye bandage.

Chris frowned, he didn't know how they knew his name.

"Can I help you?" he called out.

"I'm calling you out to fight."

"I don't want to." smiled Chris.

The boy's laughed as the boy with the eye patch shifted around.

"Then you shouldn't have picked a fight with me in the first place."

Chris rose an eyebrow in confusion, "When did I pick a fight with you? I think I'd remember a one eyed boy I fought with."

Ezra who was standing the farthest away got closer and stood next to Chris.

"Mr Larabee, I do believe that's the curmudgeon I was fighting on the boat that you elbowed in the eye."

"Oh is that it." said Chris turning back to the boy, "Sorry about the eye, but in all fairness you tried to hurt my friend."

"You think a sorry is going to fix my eye?"

"No, but I seriously can care less at this point. You hurt my friend and I hurt you. Lesson learned."

"I want a fair fight!"

"I don't think you'll fare any better than the last time." laughed Chris.

The boy however didn't listen and began climbing the fence. His friends followed.

JD and Inez backed up near the building with Buck who would've went to stand next to his friend, but was too injured to assist.

Josiah and Nathan stood next to Chris. Vin was pulled back by Ezra who wanted to help too.

Chris held his place as the boy drew nearer.

When they were three feet away Chris spoke.

"What's your name? I should at least know the name of the person I'm about to beat up."

"Cocky aren't ya. The names Bob Spikes."

"Well Bobby, I have to tell you that I'm not in the mood to fight right now. I'm having a good day and I'd like to keep it that way."

"And I'd like to take that pretty boy face of yours and mess it up."

Chris looked at Nathan and Josiah, "Did he just say pretty boy? I know I'm not butt ugly like him but I wouldn't call myself a pretty boy."

"I wouldn't either." smiled Josiah.

"Nope." agreed Nathan.

"Seriously, pretty boy, I take offense to that."

"He hates it, and you don't want to see him angry." said Josiah.

Bob Spikes took a step back, unsure now.

"Shut up and fight me already."

Chris shrugged, "If you insist."

Chris raised his fist and waited for Spikes to do the same. Bob charged first with a wild swing. The momentum of his throw sent him stumbling a few steps to recover.

Chris waited for him to attack again. Patiently waiting for him as he walked around.

Spikes lunged at Chris and Chris stepped to get out of the way, but wasn't fast enough and was thrown to the ground. The two scuffled on the ground, kicking up dirt. Chris was put in a choke hold and couldn't get out.

Vin ran to help his best friend, but Josiah pulled him back.

"He needs to do this, kid."

Chris's elbow found Bob's side and the bigger boy loosened his grip enough for Chris to scurry out of. Gaining his feet again, Chris put his fist up again. This time though he was done playing games.

Spikes threw another punch and Chris ducked. He kicked him in the butt and Bob fell to the ground.

"Think this is a game."

"Oh I'm not playing any more games."

Chris grabbed Bob by the shirt and punched him in the jaw.

Bob staggered back holding his face. Chris however wasn't finished and he got a running start before kicking Spikes in the stomach.

The boys all cheered.

A siren sounded and cars pulled up to the fence. Bob Spikes and his friends ran away leaving Chris and his friends.

"What do we do now?" said JD in a panic.

"Let's get out of here." yelled Chris.

They all ran for the far end of the fence.

Buck picked JD to go faster. Chris grabbed Vin and Ezra by the hand.

They rounded the corner and was met with a pile of old construction equipment blocking their way from the gate.

"What now?"

Chris used the beam that was leaning up against the fence as a bridge and began to climb. When he reached the top he beckoned the others to come up. Vin climbed up after him and then JD and Buck.

Chris helped them over the fence before turning to help Ezra. Josiah and Nathan were tall enough that they could climb over the debris and jump the fence.

Chris pulled Inez up and looked to see several police officers running towards them.

Making sure that Inez was safely on the ground, Chris jumped the fence himself and crash landed on his side.

It took him a bit to get up and had to have Vin and Nathan help him. They fled down the street but stopped short when they saw the police car blocking their exit.

"Chris."called Vin.

Chris looked back and saw the police were closing in from behind. They were trapped.

"I'll create a distraction, you guys make a run for it." Chris said before running towards the police car.

He bent down and threw a rock at the car.

The men in the police car got out and started shouting at him.

Chris continued to throw rocks and then he turned and threw them at the officers chasing them. The rest of the group ran to the side and Ezra broke open a lock and they all disappeared inside.

Chris smiled, knowing that they were safe. He turned and was beaten to the ground.

He shook the blow off and tried to get back up. One of the officers however picked him up by his hair. Chris held their hand to keep from getting his hair pulled out.

"Shows over kid." said one man.

Vin watched from a window as Chris was handcuffed and put into the back of the police car.

"We need to get Chris back."

"The idiot needs to stop playing hero and using himself as the bait." said Buck.

"I have an idea," said Ezra digging into his pocket, "but I don't' think Chris is going to like it much." He pulled the business card out.

"I thought Chris had it?" Said Nathan.

"I'm a pickpocket remember."

"Should we do it?" asked Nathan not quite sure it was a good idea.

"If it means getting Chris, then yes." said Vin.

"Well then, we'll be needing a phone first." smiled Ezra.

Travis was packing up his clothes for tomorrow morning when his flight would leave when he heard his phone ring. He picked it up and balanced it on his shoulder.

"Hello this is Orin Travis speaking."

"Uh hi." came a high pitch voice.

Travis frowned, he didn't know who was speaking.

"Who's this?"

"Who's this?" repeated the voice.

He could hear low voices in the background.

"You don't need to know my name."

"Well I can't help you if I don't know your name." Travis smiled. It must have been the small boy of the two yesterday.

He could hear the boy speaking to whoever he was with.

"He says he won't help us if he doesn't have a name. What should I say?"

"Give it here." said another voice that was much deeper.

"Hello?"

"Hi there, this is Orin Travis. Whom might I be speaking to?"

"This is Josiah."

So his name is Josiah then, smiled Travis.

"What can I do for you, Josiah?"

"I need your help getting a friend of mine from the police station."

"A friend?"

"Yes."

"Sure I guess I can do that."

"Great, we'll be waiting for you across the street."

"Okay then."

Josiah hung up first.

Travis smiled and set his phone back down.

It didn't take long for them to call.

The drive back to the station took him ten minutes to get there with traffic.

When he arrived he looked for the two boys from yesterday. The only boys on the other side of the street were a little boy about six and an older teenager.

He walked across the street to meet them.

"You wouldn't happen to be Josiah now would you?"

"Yes I would and this is JD." he said putting a hand on the little boy's shoulder.

JD gave a small wave before staring back down at the ground.

"So how did you end up with my phone number? Did you find it on the ground or was it given to you?"

"Neither."

Travis nodded, he wasn't sure of the two boys in front of him, but the little one looked anxious.

"Well how about we go on inside and see your friend?"

"We can't go in. That's why you're here?"

"I see."

"Please get our friend out." pleaded the little boy, braving a glance up.

Travis smiled.

Chris sat down on the same bench he was at the day before but this time he was handcuffed to it.

He wondered what they were going to do with him since he wasn't from around here. The rules could be different for minors for all he knew.

After a while he was taken into a room and made to sit at a table. An officer sat across from him.

"Ok son, I'm going to ask you a few questions now."

Chris thought back to what Ezra had said. He had rights and he didn't technically have to speak. Which was good because he wasn't going to.

The officer waited for Chris to respond, but after a minute passed he went on.

"So, what's your name?"

Chris only smiled, making the officer frown.

"Where are the other boys you were with?"

Chris slouched in his chair and yawned.

"So you don't want to talk. That's fine, maybe time in a cell will loosen your tongue."

The officer roughly pushed Chris into an empty cell. This didn't bother him and he layed down on the makeshift bed.

It was twenty minutes later when he heard an officer approach his cell. He looked up and was surprised to see the guy in the suit, that lawyer guy, standing outside.

The guard opened the door and the man came inside.

Chris sat up and frowned.

"So you're back already. I've a feeling that this isn't unusual for you."

Chris didn't say anything.

"Your friends want me to get you out of here."

"What?" Chris asked in surprise.

He felt his pockets and couldn't find the card with the number. Standish.

Chris frowned and looked away.

"I can get you out of here in exchange-"

"In exchange for what? I'm not going to give up my friends."

"I don't want you to. I just want to buy you and your friends a meal if that's okay with you."

Chris raised an eyebrow, unsure if he should accept the proposal.

"My friends?"

"Yes."

"And you just want to talk with us?"

"Yes, you can answer any questions and I won't force you to say anything you don't want to."

This made Chris smile, "Deal."

Travis felt like he scored a point with the kids with buying them dinner. He wasn't however liking the fact that he was visiting the police station so often.

When they got outside, he saw Chris rush to Josiah and JD. They talked for a bit and then JD ran off.

Travis watched from afar to give them space.

The two older boys came back to where he was standing.

Josiah's smile was more genuine while Chris's looked like he was plotting something.

"Are we ready?"

"Just about, we're waiting for someone." said Josiah.

Travis figured they were waiting for the boy he had seen with the one he'd just gotten out of jail again.

A few minutes passed and then a group of kids showed up.

Travis tried not to think of the cost of feeding all these mouths that looked like they'd been starving.

He saw the boy from yesterday among them as well as an african american boy, a hispanic girl and a skinny boy with long brown hair and JD and his older brother who was holding his hand.

"So is this everyone?" he asked the blonde trouble maker.

"These are my friends." he nodded.

Travis sighed and smiled, "Well I don't think I have enough room in my rental car but we can try and all fit."

He walked them to his car and Josiah took the front seat with the african american sitting in the middle. Trouble maker had the long haired boy sit next to him with the short boy from yesterday sitting on his lap. The girl sat next to the long haired boy and the siblings. JD sat on his brother's lap.

It looked pretty snug back there to him but no one complained or even spoke.

He did here a little complaint from the boy sitting on the trouble makers lap once.

They arrived at his hotel and went up to his room. There were many who stared at the procession as they went by. Seven half naked, tan and scrawny boys and one girl.

Once the door was shut he began giving them instructions. First they would all get cleaned up, if it was at least washing up with a cloth and then they'd go for dinner.

"Finally." said the little boy and he raced to get first shower.

The long haired boy pulled on the trouble maker's shorts.

"You're taking a shower too."

"Why?"

"Cause we all need one."

The boy muttered and tried to sit down on the bed but he was pulled by the ear away from it.

"You're dirty, you can't sit on it. If you want to sit on the bed you need to take a shower first."

Everyone else heard that and began rushing to the bathroom.

Travis could hear the little boy who had went in first start to complain.

"I'm not done yet!"

Soon he appeared wrapped up in a towel and was frowning.

"I think I should order for more towels to be sent up." Travis smiled.

About a half an hour later he had eight children bundled up in towels walking around his hotel room.

JD climbed on the bed and began to bounce up and down.

"Stop it JD!"

"But I haven't been on a bed in like a whole month."

His brother joined him in laying on the bed. Soon everyone but Chris was laughing and playing on it.

JD's high pitch squeals and giggles mixed with the little boy's shrieks were adorable to watch.

Travis glanced over to where the trouble maker stood watching with a smile.

He didn't know why he didn't join them.

After about twenty minutes of goofing off Travis tried to reign them all in and get them dressed. The playing had gotten carried away and now JD was pulling other kids' towels.

The only boy who didn't take part barked orders for them all to get dressed and they all settled down and did so.

Travis made a mental note that he was the leader of the group.

Chris waited till they were all dressed before telling the lawyer that they were ready. They all walked down together to the hotel's restaurant and were seated at a large table.

"So, can I get names? I know JD and Josiah."

"My name is Nathan." said the african american boy.

"I'm Buck." said the boy next to JD."

"Is he your brother?" asked Travis.

"Oh no, none of us are related to each other."

"I'm Ezra." said the small boy.

"And my name is Inez." said the girl.

"Vin." mumbled the long haired boy who sat next to the trouble maker.

Travis nodded and pretended that he heard. The boy was so quiet.

"He said his name was Vin." said the trouble maker, "He's shy around people he doesn't know."

"And you aren't?"

"No I just don't like grown ups that much. The names Chris Larabee."

The others smiled in almost reverence to the trouble maker.

"So I'm guessing you're the leader."

The boy shrugged, "Events happened to where things just became that way."

"So how did you all meet if you don't mind the question?"

"We met on a ship that sank in a storm. We were able to get to shore and we met these men with guns and explosives. Chris died but really didn't and then got shot. Then we found Inez. Buck fought this men boy and got cut a couple times but he says he's ok. I think you meet Ezra and Chris yesterday so that's about everything." smiled JD.

"Wait, I think you blazed over something important. You said that Chris died but didn't?"

"Yeah he fell from a twenty foot tree."

"And then you said something about explosives and guns."

"Yeah this place was filled with explosives and they shoot at us when we would steal their corn."

"Got it."

He smiled as he watched the boys devour their food. Only one, Ezra, seemed to have any manners and tried to use his utensils. When they had finally finished their dinner and dessert hearted them if they wanted to sleep in his room tonight.

Since Chris was the leader he asked him.

The others all began to make silent signals that they wanted to stay.

Chris however was reluctant.

"I don't really think we should."

"But Chris," whined JD, "we've been sleeping outdoors and in creepy rooms for days. Can't we for once sleep in an actual bed?"

The others began to follow JD's lead until finally Chris caved.

"Fine, but only tonight."

They all cheered.

Travis's room had two beds. The children laid side ways to fit seven of them. Chris said he wanted to sleep on the floor.

"Wouldn't you prefer the bed?" He asked.

"No." The boy replied coldly before laying down.

Chris was feeling uneasy about everything. The guy was being too nice. The others trusted the man instantly and now they were starting to listen to him.

It's only for tonight and then we'll leave. He thought.

The next morning however was to be another disappointment for Chris.

Travis had offered to switch his plane ticket to nine train tickets and take them all to the U.S.

Everyone cheered and bounced up and down. All except Chris who looked around at his friends a little disheartened.

For a month now he'd been trying to get them to the U.S. Now this guy waltzes into their lives and present them with tickets., making everything he'd done look pathetic.

They didn't even bother this time to ask Chris if they could go, and Chris didn't blame them. He was unfit to lead now.

The lawyer got them all settled into a train compartment and they set off.

 **A/N: I feel like I'm going to be hated soon. I won't say why because it wouldn't be a surprise now would it? Thanks for the awesome reviews. You guys make me happy.**


	11. Chapter 11

Ezra fiddled around with his coat. He had put it on during the journey to keep warm but now he was feeling uncomfortable in it. Not because of the heat, but because it didn't feel like him. For a month now he'd been holding onto it, thinking of how he had to get to his mother. She had to be alive. Her being dead was unfathomable.

But being with the others. Being himself with no rules was such a great feeling that he felt himself wavering on his decision to go looking for his family.

The others felt like a family to him. A messed up family, but his real family wasn't much better.

The only problem with their little family was that there wasn't a clear future and that's what mattered to him.

He looked up and saw Chris looking out the window of their little room. The older boy hadn't spoken since the hotel last night. Ezra knew Chris didn't talk unless necessary, but it looked like he had something on his mind. Like something was troubling him.

Vin sat happily between Chris, his best friend, and Mr Travis, their protector. Never before had he trusted an adult, but since Chris seemed to trust him then he had to be good. Plus he was taking them all to the U.S. There was something unnerving about how quiet Chris was being, but he dismissed it as Chris thinking about what they we're going to do once they got off the train. A small part of him wished that they could all stay with Mr Travis. They could all officially become brothers and sister.

Vin smiled and looked over to Chris. He couldn't see his face, but that was ok. He laid his head on the older boy's arm and closed his eyes.

JD was restless from sitting so long. He asked several times if they were there yet and kept walking around their small area.

They were going to their new home with Mr Travis and he was going to be their daddy.

He giggled and then scrambled back into Buck's now sore thighs.

The others all cherished thoughts of getting to the states. Some still thinking about what would happened when they arrived while the younger ones thought of staying with Travis.

It wasn't until the announcer came over the speaker and said that they were ten minutes away from their destination when Travis told them his plan.

"So guys, I was thinking since you don't have anywhere to go, you could stay at a friend of mine's house."

Chris finally came alive, "I won't let you split us up in some foster system."

"Nothing of the sort. My friend, Nettie Wells has a ranch with a lot of land that you all can run around on. She has a niece staying with her about JD's age."

Chris looked around at the others, "What do you guys want to do?"

"Why don't we try it since you don't have plans yet right."

Chris hid the hurt he felt with a nod, "Fine, we'll go."

The others began to talk excitedly while Chris returned to his gaze to the scenery outside the window and sighed.

It was dark when they arrived and most of them were exhausted from the journey to actually take in their surroundings.

Travis took them in a cab that they all had to pile into and took them to a house out of the city they arrived in. The house light was on and looked like they were expected. When the car stopped the front door opened and a middle aged woman stepped out. She came down the steps to greet them all.

"Welcome children. You must be all tired from your journey. I'll keep the introductions short so you can all get to bed. I have a few rooms set up for you in the back. Casey will take you."

A little girl, shorter than JD hovered by the door. She gave a wave and Nettie gently pushed them towards the house.

Casey started talking instantly with JD who probably would've been more talkative if he wasn't exhausted.

The other boys were surprised at his lack of conversation.

The older boys were paired up and the younger ones were to share another room.

Casey showed them the long shirts they were to use as pjs until they could get to the store.

Chris silently changed and slipped into his bed. He was sharing a room with Buck who was sleeping in a bed across the room.

"We made it, old dog." whispered Buck.

Chris didn't say anything, but covered his head with the blanket.

The next morning they were shown around the house and the ranch. The older boys were told that they would have to help out around with the chores outside while and the younger ones were to work indoors.

For breakfast they all sat down at the table. Casey tried talking to JD again but again JD wasn't talking much.

"Something wrong, kid?" asked Buck eventually.

"No."

"Then why aren't you talking to her?"

"That's a her?"

"Yeah, what did you think she was?"

"I couldn't tell. Why's she wearing overalls like a boy?"

"Why don't you just ask her instead of talking about her?" said Casey.

JD frowned at her.

"Girls aren't supposed to be wearing overalls."

"Well I bet I can force you into one of my dresses before you can get me into one."

JD scrunched his nose, "Boy's don't wear dresses."

"I don't have to wear dresses either."

JD shook his head, "You're weird."

Buck tried to hold in his laugh.

Vin helped Nettie in the kitchen and would always volunteer to taste test the food.

The food was dished out and everyone ate till their fill. Not many took the time to talk in fear that another would get seconds before them.

After breakfast Nathan, Buck, and Josiah explored the outside where there were farm animals and to the boy's wonder, horses while Vin, Ezra and JD helped with the dishes.

When the boys came back inside to tell the others what they saw Nettie told them that they could try and ride them later on the week which made them all excited.

When the younger boys heard about this they wanted to ride too. Soon everyone was asking Nettie to be the first to ride.

Chris sat alone on the fence watching the animals eat grass.

It was peaceful unlike the ranch that the James's owned. There weren't any men carrying guns around like at the Conklin farm. In fact, it was just the kids and Nettie.

Travis went back to the city the night before, promising to visit in a couple of days.

Chris however wasn't planning on staying for a couple of days.

While the others obediently did chores, he would go off into the woods and practice shooting his bow and arrow.

He had been practicing for the last month and was getting better.

Releasing his hold he sank another handmade arrow into a small tree.

With a sigh he retrieved it and walked back to his position. In the US he wouldn't be allowed to carry weapons. No matter if they were hand made. Everything that he'd work to get to this point was now going to be useless. He would become useless. He wasn't needed anymore.

Chris, with tears threatening to fall, snapped his bow and arrows in half and tossed them as far as he could.

If this what needed to happen then he wouldn't fight it anymore.

Drops of rain started to fall and he went back to the house. Everyone was busy playing games and didn't notice him sneak into the back where he was sleeping.

There was a little desk set up and he took out a pencil and paper. He wasn't one for talking, but he could write.

By the time everyone started to head to bed Chris had already climbed in his and covered himself up. The storm outside had gotten worse and lightning flashed through the window.

Buck fumbled around a little before getting into bed. Ten minutes passed in silence besides the sound of the occasional thunder and rain before the door opened slightly. Little steps were heard and JD climbed into Buck's bed.

Buck wrapped himself around the other boy before closing his eyes again.

Chris could hear Vin trying to get into his bed but he shoved him off.

Vin tried again but this time Chris sat up and pushed him off till he fell on the floor.

"Knock it off already!" He yelled.

Buck and JD sat up.

"What's the matter with you, pard?" asked Buck.

"I just- I'm just tired of this. You guys maybe ok with this but I can't stay."

Chris slipped out of the bed and quickly got dressed. Vin fumbled to his feet and began pleading with him to stop.

"Please, I won't get into bed with you again. Please don't leave us. You said we were going to stick together."

Vin started to cry. Chris opened the window and climbed out till he was sitting on the windowsill.

"I'll stay in contact with you all and write you when I get the chance."

He didn't wait for them to respond before he jumped off and dropped to the ground. He ran and didn't look back. He could hear Vin and Buck screaming his name.

Closing his eyes, he pressed on. There was no other way. They would be safe there with Nettie. He only brought misfortune to them all like his foster dad said.

"I'm sorry."

The other kids ran into Buck's and Chris's room. They saw Vin and JD balling on the floor. Buck had turned on the lights and was looking at a piece of paper he had found on the desk.

"What happened?" asked Josiah.

"Chris left."

The others stood in astonishment, not quite sure how to react.

"Where?" asked Ezra.

"We don't know. He just got upset and left."

"What's that?" asked Nathan pointing to the paper in Buck's hand.

"He wrote this to us."

Buck read it out loud.

 _Dear Buck,_

 _I'm sorry that I can't be with you guys anymore and that I broke my promise that we'd always be together. Take care of the others for me and try not to get into any trouble with girls._

He then handed it over to Josiah who read his message.

 _Dear Josiah,_

 _Please take my place in watching over the others. You're an excellent leader with great ideas. Don't be afraid to use them. You'll do great._

One by one, they handed down the letter to the next person in line.

 _Dear JD,_

 _I know you're just learning to read so I'll keep it short and not difficult. When I first met you you were a little too much for me, but you've grown to become a brave kid and really smart. Don't let the dark_ _hold you back. Take care of Buck for me._

 _Dear Nathan,_

 _Thank you for taking care of me and the others, and I hope you'll continue to do so when I'm gone. We probably would've come out a whole lot worse if it wasn't for you. Keep up the work and I expect to see in the news about a Dr Nathan Jackson saving lives and creating cures._

 _Dear Inez,_

 _I haven't known you as long as the others but you have definitely become part of the family. I hope you were able to experience that feeling too. Take care of the boys and keep them in line as only a girl knows how. Especially Buck._

 _Dear Vin,_

 _Hey buddy. Don't think of any of this as your fault or anyone else's. It's just my time to leave. Try not to be too shy and please eat more besides sweets. Take baths and do what you're told. I probably won't have to worry about that last part because you were always my trooper._

 _Dear Ezra,_

 _I'm not sure where we sit, but I consider you a little brother. Not because you're short either. We may have had a rough beginning, but I don't regret meeting you that night. I know you don't feel like you belong with us, but we do consider you family._

Ezra read the portion that was addressed to all of them.

 _And to all of you,_

 _I feel like my job is done. I don't feel like I'm needed anymore. Our goal was to get to the states and we succeeded. Even though I didn't complete the mission myself. I have given you guys all that I had. I have nothing left to offer you but my love._

 _I'm going away, not because of anything you did, but because I realized that I can't do anything else_ _for you at this point in my life. Not everything can be done without grown ups and I see that. But even though I can see it, I can't bring myself to trust them again. I've been hurt too many times and I'm just what they call a damaged child._

 _I'm not really sure where I'll be headed but I will write to you every chance that I get. I wrote down Nettie's address so I can mail you all._

 _Good bye,_

 _Chris Larabee_

 **A/N: So I know that it leaves you guys kind of hanging and possibly upset. Believe me I was crying as I wrote this. I told you all that I was writing what came to me in dreams and daydreams and there simply was nothing left. Mostly for Chris. I dislike that it ended in this way, but my other version was longer and prolonged the inevitable. Besides the title is Crossing the Atlantic and they've already done so. I think there will be a sequel in the future, but I'm going to be writing another story first...I think. Plus school is starting up and we all have our feelings on that subject. Love you all and thanks for reading!**

 **The title for the sequel will be Crossing the States to Find You. I think I'll start with the sequel first. As I just said I'm lead by dreams. It won't be continued on this one so you have to find it. Or follow, which ever you want.**


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